Which Way Will He Go?
by KrystalBlaze - Jerikor
Summary: Set in Invasion time. Shane and Stephanie want Kurt to join the Alliance. Of course he refuses. But how far will they go to get what they want? But most importantly, which way will Kurt choose to go? *Chapter 5 uploaded on 3/29/01*
1. Default Chapter

I happen to be Blazer and this happens to be my first wrestling fic. It's dumb. I don't think I need to tell you who it is that's talking. Like it hard. It sucks. I wrote it in like an hour, so sorry about mistakes. I can't remember a lot from those two nights, so sorry is something is wrong. Okay? Please R/R!

~Blazer~

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WHICH WAY WILL HE GO?

**CHAPTER ONE**

MONDAY

THURSDAY, JULY 9, 2001

Man, I didn't want to be in this match. I didn't want to be in the arena. At the moment I didn't want to be in the world. At the moment, I felt like tearing my own heart out and eating it.

She's beautiful. She's smart and fun(with me, at least) and she's...she's her. I don't know why I have an obsession. Maybe it's because she's a woman I can never have. Maybe its because she's the boss' daughter, his little girl, Triple H's wife. I don't know why. She has everything. 

Her name is Stephanie McMahon Helmsey if you haven't figured it out by now. Vince McMahon's daughter, Hunter Hemsley's wife, Shane McMahon's sister, "Daddy's Little Girl." Hmm...I'm sure I've forgotten something...oh, yeah...the new owner of the Extreme Championship Wrestling. Now, how in the world could I forget that one?

I was sitting in a locker room when that happened. My match with Booker T....well, that didn't go as well as I would have liked it to. That stupid ref Nick Patrick from the WCW had been refereeing. Well, of course it didn't stop there. That poor excuse for a son Shane McMahon had to come out and interfere. He hit me with that title belt. Right in my chin. I had lost badly, and now my head was aching and I had a towel pressed against the cut that was dripping blood.

I would have been part of the team Vince and Shane had assembled if wold have asked me too. But they had chosen "The One"(where in the hell did he get that from, anyways?) Billy Gunn, the Big Show, the APA, and Hardcore Holly. Jericho and Kane were still in the medical office and Austin was who knows where and Undertaker was probably with him, and why the hell Vince chose them was anyone's guess.

The TV was tuned on. Part of me was watching the match (or it was _supposed_ to be a match) and the other was wondering if I should go see the trainer about my bleeding cut. It should have stopped bleeding by now, but it hadn't and I was beginning to wonder.

They hugged? I leapt up. WCW and ECW _hugging?_ No way in hell. Our guys were lying by the ramp, withering. And WCW and ECW went after them? Paul Heyman and Shane hugging? Na-uh! What the hell? And now they were tearing out our guy's throat! 

Ahh. The angel in disguise. All hail Vincent K. McMahon! Show 'em, Vineey!

"What the hell is this?" Vince demanded.

Nice one, Vince.(snicker, snicker)

Anyway, blabber, blabber, blabber...more blabber...is there a point to this?

"... and now, the new owner of ECW," Shane said loudly, gloatingly. Ohhhh. Yipee. "Give it up for Vince's daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley!"

WHAT? The towel hit the floor. I sank into my chair, staring as Stephanie(looking hotter than hot I might add) in a soft pink dress walked through down the ramp and stood on the apron. She smiled a veil smile at her father that sent chills fluttering up and down my spine. I love Steph, I do, but when she gets that smile on her face, it's all over.

I don't remember watching the rest of that show. All I remember is this overwhelming sense of betrayal.

**CHAPTER TWO**

SMACKDOWN

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2001

It was Smackdown! and my match was pairing me with the Undertaker against DDP and Shane McMahon. Shane was going to feel my wrath. Oh, he sure was! I still hadn't forgiven him for my losing the King Of The Ring championship, and he was going to feel it.

Stephanie. That was all that was on my mind. Her. Last year seemed so far away.So far away. Our three way love triangle that brought in millions of viewers and was the basic for one of the main events at the pay-per-view. 

Our relationship died down after that. She became my manager for a while, and then Armageddon happened and it died down again. We were still friends, but I couldn't see her as much as I would like. I can't tell you how much that hurt. Pain and pain. 

Do you know what it is like to be in love with a married woman? And not just a married woman, a woman whose husband is about the best in the business, and who father is my boss? And I was truly in love with Stephanie. Whenever she got hurt, I could be found heaving things that my locker wall. 

Like when Austin stunned her. I was tossing my medals around.

The betrayal and hurt I was feeling felt like it was about to kill me. She should have told me. She should have instead of dropping the bomb like this. 

Come to think of it, it was really kind of funny when Vince had begged for a stunner earlier that night. Now, Vince had gone Austin-hunting, and Austin was God-knows where, and it was only me and Taker and Jericho and Kane to hold down the fort. Isn't that ironic? And who says the old Stone Cold could beat both ECW and WCW? Hey! I'm still here!

The match. Man, me and Taker were _killing_ Shane! HA! Well, he's doing the most of it. I chased Shane a bit out of the ring and was treated to DDP tossing me into the steps and stunning me for about awhile. Grateful for his chance to get at DDP, Taker ran to us proceeded to kick DDP's ass, then happily tossed him in the ring.

"You all right?" he yelled above the roar of the crowd. 

"Yeah!" I yelled back. "Yeah!" He cupped my chin and rolled me into the ring. Stubble guy, really. 

You know the rest. We won, we were still kicking their assests, and then, da da da! The whole freaking roster from ECW and WCW decides they want some of this and they come running out, wanting to fight.

Wellllll...I went to cut them off. I had left Taker in the ring alone with Diamond Dallas Page. I wanted DDP to suffer. He had cheated the match, and he needed to get the punishment that he deserved. I'm no big fan of Takers, but what DDP did to his wife, his family, is just wrong. I'm a bit big on that moral.

I'm getting whipped here, my mind whirling about, and the next thing I know, I see this flash of black and red hurling at me and I'm on the ground, one of Undertaker's leg atop me. That guy left DDP to help me? Now what is this world coming to? And when did he learn how to fly? 

The fight spills into the ring where DDP has mounted to his feet. Man, dude, we cleaned house! Clotheslines here, clotheslines here clothesline everywhere! And I even got my ankle-lock on DDP, but Taker pulled me away so he could some. Fine by me. But could you please leave my chin alone?

And the rest of that damn company comes out. Damn them. They started to beat us. It was fifteen on two.

GASP! LOOK! IT"S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE! NO! IT'S SUPER JERICHO AND MIGHTY KANE! 

Like that helped. Now it was fifteen on four. Screw them.

Somehow I ended up at in a turnbuckle. I knew I got a three-d, and now I was laying into a turnbuckle.

That's when I saw her. I saw her feet. I saw her as she walked by my turnbuckle. Out of the corner of my eye, she smiled that veil smile. At me. 

She came by my head, real close. She leaned in. If you see a tape, you can see her real quickly move to a side by a turnbuckle and her mouth is moving, and her eyes are averted at someone who is pounding me. You would think she was yelling at one of her guys, cheering them on. But you want to know what she really said?

"You walked right into it. I can't help you."

================

Sigh. I just wanted to write that for kicks. Yeah, there's one more chapter if I feel up to writing it. Review. Please?

~Blazer~


	2. Chapters 3-4

Honestly, I never thought I would do a wrestling fic like this. I wanted it to be small; to show that I could write a short story with a point, but that stupid mind of mine wanted a story with chapters and this is the product. I am terribly sorry about the length. I have a plan in my head, and it called for this part to have both Raw and Smackdown! In this part. 

Disclaimer-naw, I don't own WWF so please don't sue! I mention the Backstreet Boys and a few of their songs, so I don't own them or the song (my all time favorite!) "That's What She Said."

Again, I don't remember a lot that happened in those two nights, so please point out where I made a mistake and I'll correct it. Kurt didn't have a concussion, I made it up. Steph and Shane didn't really steal his bag; they didn't kiss and so forth. This took quite a while to write, so please be nice and sorry about the spelling mistakes. I'm not good with spelling. I'm thirteen and I can't spell the number. I make myself sick. A lot of bad words, so that's why its PG-13, Kay? R/R

~Blazer~

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WHICH WAY WILLL HE GO? -PART TWO 

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CHAPTER THREE

Raw Is War ****

Monday, July 16, 2001

You walked right into it. I can't help you."

That's what she said. Isn't that a song? I think it's by the Backstreet Boys or something like that. I remember my niece (who is in love with the guys) singing it to me over the telephone one day, because "the song rules and Brian co-wrote it, Uncle Kurt, and it is so pretty!" Brian? Whatever that means.

"You walked right into it. I can't help you."

She said that to me on Smackdown!. She came up close to the turnbuckle I was laying against after receiving a 3-d and being hammered at by two guys from ECW and two guys from WCW. She leaned in to my ear. She had a wicked smile on her face. If you saw it from somewhere else, it looked like she was yelling at her guys, cheering them on. But she was talking to me, and above the roar in my ears and above the roar of the crowd, I heard her.

"You walked right into it. I can't help you."

The words hurt. They hurt like being Pedigreed through J.R.'s table (which I have been. Just ask Triple H. I'm sure he'll want to gloat about it.), mixed with being 3-deed through a table (ask the Dudleys. They'll want to talk about it.) mixed in with seeing my brother also being put through a table (read this all, and I'll give you Erick's number. That's his only claim to fame so he'll wantta brag.) mixed in with landing on no one after a fifteen foot Moonsault (Hehe.) and a couple of Stone Cold Stunners thrown in (Errr...this guy is on my team.)

She couldn't help me? I love her and she can't help me? Now is that my fault? Is that my fault that I happen to be on the same team that is against her team? I wanted to get out of it. I wish that I could have gotten out of it. 

She came up to me earlier today. I was peeling the bandage on my chin off. It was just a little cut, I figured out, that just wanted to bleed. I held my chin cautiously, but it didn't bleed. I'm sore, but besides that, I'm fine. I've got a bruise on my leg, but that's all right.

"Kurt?"

Damn. I'm sitting in my locker room. I share it with Edge and Christian (a.k.a. Adam and Jay). Sure, the TV says we never made up after King of the Ring, but we did. We're too good of friends to let that stand in your way. Rhyno wasn't really their friend from the get-go, but oh well. 

She's peeking her head in. Her beautiful face is flushed, and I see Shane and Paul Heyman behind her. My temper is flaring, but I nod. "Hey, Steph. Come on in. You too, Weiner Boys." Weiner Boys? Don't ask where that came from.

She smiles dutifully. She and her friends walk in. Stephanie is leading. Shane seems to want to keep his distance. Fine. I kicked his ass last week, and I'll do it again if I had the chance. I'm sitting on a bench and the three of them form a circle around me. "Hi. What do you want?"

She's still smiling and my heart aches. "Hi, Kurt! Feeling okay? Feeling good? Sorry about what happened last Thursday. But...you walked right into it."

"Yeah!" Shane pipes up. Stephanie gives him a dirty look, then turned to Paul.

"We've come to with an offer," he said with a smirk on his face. "To come to WCW and we'll make you WCW champ."

Am I hearing right? What? They want me to defect to WCW? I've never been in WCW or ECW. I was drafted right away by WWF, and they wanted me. After the Olympics, I stayed idle for about three years and I had already been approached by WWF. I didn't call them again until I saw a TV program. I fell in love and they still wanted me.

I had no desire to go to WCW.

"What?"

"You heard him," Shane growled. "You heard him. Listen up. You come to your WCW, and you'll win the WCW championship from Booker T. automatically."

"I have a contract."

"And I have money to buy your contract from my father."

Hehe. Well, the guy did have money. Lots and lots of it. He _could _buy my contract from Vince, and Vince could let me go. He would get his money. I would get to be the WCW champ. I would be a star. "And you would be on the team for Invasion," Stephanie added, seeing my reluctant. Shane's face contorted, but he nodded.

"I'm on the team in this company," I pointed out.

"But you're not the star," Paul said. "You could be the star without Austin around."

The star...the leader.... I've always wanted to be the leader of the team.... I wanted to be the leader...to be in the spotlight....

"And there is so much we can give to you Kurt," Stephanie said softly, stepping to my side and putting her hand on the nape of my neck. Tingles ran up and down my spine as I stared up at her.

"I-"

I couldn't finish. They had closed the door when they came in, but now it opened and the Undertaker (Mark Callaway)'s head popped into the room. "Do you know where the hell-" he started. He took in the scene and suddenly as evil grin rose on his face. "I think I'll go tell Vince." He closed the door.

"MARK!" I screamed, leaping up. I raced to the door and threw it open. "Mark, don't! Don't! MARK!" I didn't care that Stephanie was gaping at me or that all three of them we're in there alone with my gym bag and all my things.

As I raced after the Undertaker, I heard Shane's voice call out.

"We'll talk later!"

Shit.

=================

How I managed to talk Mark out of talking to Vince, I'll never know. I know that it was hard, but what I said to him is all a blur now. It sucks. It really really sucks. I probably agreed to something that I'll regret later, but at the moment I don't care.

My gym bag is missing. I know who took it. Adam and Jay wouldn't take it and besides them, no one else had been in the locker room. Three people. They had thrown my boots and the rest of my ring attire (medals included) into a locker. But the gym bag and whatever else I had had in there was gone. 

I didn't have anything really important in there, just some old plane tickets, a copy of my contract (I like being sure of things. I'll get another one) that I always carry with me, a pre-ordered copy of my book (signed, I might add. I can always get another one) cologne, you know, stuff like that. I really needed to shave, and my razor was in there, so I guess that's a major crisis. I ended up having to borrow Edge's, which is kind of gross, but I didn't have any other choice.

As I hunt after Stephanie and Paul Heyman and Shane, I still can't help wonder why'd they take it. I'd already made up my mind about what to do about the WCW. I'm not leaving. WWF has given me my career, my money, the chance to do my thing. I don't turn my back on that. Even though I could have profited from defecting, I won't do it. I just won't.

I run into Jay. "Jay, are you _positive _no one else has been in the locker room?" I ask again. His face twisted, and I got a feeling he was getting tired of this. After all, this was a hunt for a gym bag that had cost only ten bucks at the most. _His_ own bag cost thirty dollars, but it was a _good _gym bag if you know what I mean.

"Yes, _Kurt,_ I'm positive!" His voice is loud. He paced in front of me like a caged animal. His wacky sunglasses are perched on his forehead and on the verge to fall off. "Kurt, only you, me and Adam and Steph and her guys have been in the locker room. So what if they took your gym bag? No biggie. For cryin' out loud, Angle, I was with you when you bought it, you cheapy!"

Cheapy?

"But-"

"Hey, how about this: maybe Steph wanted to keep it as a souvenir! Eh? Since she's married and all. She probably has a shrine dedicated to you, Kurt." He grinned stupidly at me.

Please. I know Stephanie. She's not one to build shrines to people she likes like that girl on that TV show 'Hey, Arnold!'. Nope. She rather shows her expression than hide it. And she wouldn't steal my gym bag for a trashy reason like that. She's too classy for that. She was raised in a mansion with people that loved her, and she wouldn't stoop as low as to steal a gym bag. Some other more important thing, sure, but not a bag. It would be too cheap for her, anywise.

I shake my head at Jay. "Naw. Good luck in your match. Tell Adam I say good-luck. See ya."

"Bye, Kurt!" he yells as I walk away. 

Aww! The Great Search For Stephanie continues.

================

I have a match against Raven tonight, ECW rules. That kid is going to feel my frustration wither he wants too or not. He thinks ECW rules. Yeah right. WWF rules! ECW sucks!

I think she knows that I'm looking for her. I've run into some guys from WCW and ECW and I've asked about her, but they look around for a minute, smile, then tell me no and to mind my own business and to stay from away from their company.

If that isn't hiding something then I don't know what is. I'm running around like a dog chasing my tail. No, the gym bag isn't that important to me, its just that I want to know what why they took it. If they wanted to bag, I would have given it to them for ten dollars. I would have given it to them for free. Then I'd have an excuse to go and buy a new bag.

Where did they go? My match is in ten minutes and I still haven't found them! Not Paul, not Shane, not Stephanie. I need an Aspirin. Please! 

So pocessed in the search for my medicine, I ran into somebody. He grunts. His belly is big and his black hair is tied in a ponytail under a soft brown hat. "Paul! Where the hell is my bag!" I demanded. 

Paul Heyman is standing in front of me like an idiot, gaping. "Kurt, hi!" he cried. Na-uh. Don't give me that. He's not my friend and I've never liked him. "Kurt, have you thought about the offer? I mean-"

"Where's my bag, Heyman? I know you took it!"

"Now, Kurt! What in the world are you talking about?" His voice is covered with fake innocence. His eyes are wide and pleading.

"My bag! I know you or Shane or Stephanie took it! That's an offense that I can have arrested for! Paul, just give me the bag. I want my stuff back." Yeah, right.

"Me and Shane and Stephanie didn't take it! Where could you have gotten that idea from? I'm hurt, Kurt, I'm really hurt. Ask those fools of friends Edge and-"

Before he can say anymore, I've grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against a wall, sweat tickling down my face and dripping onto his coat. "Now, Paul," I said, my voice low and dangerous, "If you call Adam and Jay fools again, I'm going to make you wish you dead. Got that?"

He gaps at me, nodding. He's been drinking. I smell the beer on his breath. "Good. Now, where's my gym bag, and why did you take it?"

I almost got an answer out of him, I almost did. His eyes were rounder and he was pale white. Paul may be the smartest bastard in the world, but he's not a wrestler and I hate to think what would happen to him if we had a brawl right then and there. I hate him. 

I don't get an answer. A camera guy is tugging impatiently on my arm. "Angle! Angle! You're match is in three minutes! They need you! Kurt! Kurt!"

Angrily I rip my arms off Paul and slug the guy away. He stumbles back, then runs like a scared dog into the darkness. I turn back to the shaking Paul once again. "This isn't over, Paul. This is far from over." I slam my fist into the wall to make my point, then hold it in front of him, shaking it. "This isn't over."

==================================

I won my match, showing the fans the side of me that no one wants to ever mess with. The part of me that is dangerous and no one ever wants to mess around with. The part of me that I keep a close handle on and hate to let out. The part of me that I myself hate.

I left Raven lying in the ring, his hands curled up under him, his face pressed firmly into the mat. The fans were cheering, chanting my name. Great. Now I'm a baby face. I like being a heel, believe it or not, but that's the way it goes.

I'm always tired after my matches and tonight is no exception. My body is sore, my legs not really wanting to walk. I needed beer. I wearily drag myself to the locker room, where Adam and Jay are waiting for me. 

"Hey, Kurt, great match!" Adam crows. If you want to know where those two got their names, you're going to have to ask a shrink. They claim that the names came to them in a dream. Doesn't that only work in movies? 

"Yeah, you won!" Jay's jumping about. "Wanna go to that place where Austin is and we can all have a drink together! What's it called? The Friendly Tap?"

"Like hell you're going somewhere!" Chris Jericho's head pops into the room. 

"Hi, Chris," I welcome him. Yeah, we're casual friends. We have to be. We're on the same team. There's some tension between E&C and Jericho. At Judgement Day, Jericho and Benoit cost them their tag title shot. "Settle down."

"Hi, Kurt," Jericho says slowly, sarcastically to Adam and Jay as if they were idiots that didn't deserve a welcome. "Classy is here." Ahhh. The great "Classy" Freddy. Gotta love that guy. "The whole roster is supposed to be in a room and Classy's going to give us a little pep talk. Rumor has it that WCW and ECW are going to interfere with Taker and Kane's match against DDP and Rhyno. " He's looking directly at me. So it was Team WWF to save the day. Isn't that something?

"We're here, too," Jay scoffed.

"Oh, yeah. You-"

"Chris!" 

"Sure, Kurt. See ya later." He leaves as Adam and Jay throw him daggers with his eyes. 

"You guys need to get a life. That was a month ago!"

"Have you forgiven Triple H?" Adam asks. "Have you forgiven him for the fact that he took Stephanie away from you." I see Adam means no harm and is only trying to make a point, but it strikes a nerve deep down inside of me at the remembrance of that event and what Stephanie wants me to do now. I didn't tell them about that. I wouldn't tell anybody about that (except the damn Undertaker, who would have told Vince about Heyman and his kids talking to me if I haven't given him a decent explanation. I don't lie well, believe it or not. Not at the spur of the moment, anyways.)

My face contorts in rage and in pain. The sting of what she did is sill fresh in my mind and it won't go away. And I don't want to be reminded of what Hunter did. "Shut it!" I yelled, storming to where my jacket is lying and snatching it up. "Just shut up!"

"Kurt, I –"

"I told you shut-up!" I can tell Adam looks really sorry. He knows that I hate what Hunter did and that Stephanie can never be mine. But I hate them, I them both at the moment. Not even bothering to take a breather, I storm to the door, cruthing my jacket and slipping it on. "I'm going to another locker room!"

I shut the door and the slam echoes through the hallway. Angrily I stalk through the halls, pain and anger flowing off of me. I ran into the APA. My face must have showed my mood, because they looked at me, then quickly left, scurrying down the hall.

I'm looking for an empty locker room. Most of them are taken by our guys and that sucks because I want to be myself. I want to sulk alone, let my anger and pain bury itself inside of me to a place where I have a steady harness on it. Right now I'm willing to beat the hell out of anybody who wants a fight.

I've reached the first locker room that doesn't have a sticker on it claiming it to be somebody's. Good. I don't knock and slam the door open.

Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley and Shane McMahon are standing above a bench, looking down at my open stolen gym bag.

"Kurt!" Stephanie cries. Shane's face is getting redder by the moment, and his eyes are wide and glittering with anger, an endless pit. The anger inside of me is burning like and inferno and Shane is there, right there, the one who stole my gym bag, someone who wants a fight. I'll take him now.

Shane's the one who takes the first step towards me. "Don't you know how to knock, Wuss?" he asks, taking one more step. In two strides I cover the space between us and am standing face to face with him, my face inches from his.

"Shane! Kurt! Don't fight!" Stephanie forces her way between us and she puts a hand on Shane's chest, one on mine. At the feel of her cool hand on my bare chest, my mind snaps crazily and another pain strikes down deep in my heart. Longing.

"Why did you take my bag?" I growl at Shane. He's as red as a tomato. A bright red baby cherry tomato. "I want my stuff back. Why did you take my bag?" My voice is low and dangerous, just as it had been when I had talked to Paul Heyman. "Maybe I won't beat your ass if you tell me why you took my bag."

That's it. Shane swings his fist at me. I catch it easily. He's so weak. Doubt flashes in his eyes. I laugh. "You're not trained, Wonder Boy." I sneer at him as Stephanie takes Shane's wrist from my grasp and lets it drop. "Anytime, anywhere, Shane."

"Then right here!" Shane pushes Stephanie out of the way and jumps at me, taking my by surprise. I stagger a couple of feet, then regain my balance. Shane is on me with punches and kicks, which hurt a bit. Shane had Adidas on, and they don't hurt. All it takes is one well-planted kick with my ring-boots to his ribs and he's on the floor, leaning against bench, his head rolling back.

I advance towards him slowly, a sick smile on my face. His mouth is now twisted with fear. I'm mad and Shane just made me madder. He looked at his sister; standing behind me is helplessness. "She can't help you," I said. "She can't." 

But, oh, did she help him. 

I was walking to Shane, that smile leaving. Before I know what's what, Stephanie slid in front of me, blocking Shane. "Stephanie, just-"

Before I can finish, she grabs my neck, her hands meeting at the back of it. Her eyes are glittering, and a beautiful smile is on her face. She pulls me down towards her, and her mouth is on mine the next second. 

A need burst inside of me like a spring. Her mouth … on mine … she was kissing me … not the other way around … she wants this…

I'm not kissing her back. I should but I'm not. She's married, my mind is shouting. She's married, but yet I won't pull away

Her tongue pries my lips open and her tongue is on mine. My body reacts before I can think. My arms slide around her waist and I pull her closer. Does she want this as much as I want it or is it just my imagination? Her hands slide down to the small of my back and pull me closer. On of her hands goes to my head and runs through my hair. We lean a bit to the side, my arm holding her light body. Another one of her hands is on my chest, roaming around.

We're staggering towards the door. I know this but the only thing I'm concentrating on is her mouth on mine and her hands on me. I don't care where Shane is. I don't want him here.

Suddenly she releases me, my mouth lingering on her. She pushes me forward and the next moment the door is slamming my face and locking. 

=============================

"And further more, our fate is in your hands! Get up! Get up!" "Classy" Freddy's Blassie voice is booming through the room filled with tables and with almost the entire WWF roster. The injured ones, like Triple H, the suspended one like the Rock, the ones who are off for personal reasons like Eddie Guerrero, and the ones who just plain don't want to be here like Austin aren't here, ofcourse.

We have been in this meeting for the last five minutes. The Undertaker, Vince McMahon, the APA, and "Classy" Fred have the job of motivating us. So far it was working with all the other guys. Including Adam and Jay, sitting across the room from me. But it hadn't been working for me.

I wanted to show my leadership, I wanted to show that I was ready Invasion. So I leapt up with the others, and we roared, "Yes! Yes!" Then the Undertaker and Kane marched down to the ring for their match with Rhyno and DDP. Me, the two Hardys, the APA, Jericho, and a couple of other superstars lined behind the curtain as Kane and the Undertaker walk out and down the ramp. We're lucky that DDP and Rhyno don't see us as they also walk down.

Jericho is standing next to me. He's breathing hard from his match against Booker T. that he should have won. This sucks. He pokes me in the ribs and I look at him. "Angle?" I nodded at him. "Angle, why were you in Shane and Stephanie's locker room?" He's saying this quietly so that none of the others can hear.

He saw me. I gulped. "That…that wasn't their room. I just wanted to get away by myself for awhile. Adam and Jay were kind of getting on my nerves." I told you I'm not a good liar, and by the way Jericho was looking at me, I knew I wasn't going to get any better. "Honest!"

"Kurt, I ran into Paul before I saw you. He was drunk. Real drunk. I talked to him a bit, and he told me what locker room Shane was in. He was that drunk. I wanted to give Shane a piece of my mind for what happened tonight." His lips curved into a frown. "And I saw you leaning forward, and then you come jumping out, and the door slammed in your face. What happened in there, Kurt?"

Annoyance and more pain flash inside of me. "Nothing, Chris. I just-um-well…they wanted to talk to me about something and Shane wanted to fight so I knocked him down a bit. He's not exactly champion material." My laugh sounded hollow.

Chris is just staring at me. "I know you're lying," he said matter-of-factly. "You don't exactly lie too well. So, what happened? I won't tell anybody. I promise." And promises are always broken, II thought. Stephanie promised Hunter she wouldn't do anything with me and she just did. (That's true! I heard her telling that thing to Hunter a bit after Summerslam!)

So I look right back at Chris, careful not to blink. He stared back and then a hand shook me. "What are you guys doing?" Jeff Hardy is asking. Rainbow Head. That's Adam and Jay's pet name for him. Contrary to popular belief, E&C and the Hardy Boyz are actually good friends. You don't want to know what Jeff calls them. You just don't. 

"Trying to get Kurt-" Chris starts.

"To teach him how to do my ankle lock!" Where did that come from? Now both Chris and Jeff are looking at me like I'm the craziest person they've met. "Right, Chris? He's jealous. The Lion Tamer just isn't working these days." 

Chris' eyes flash in anger. " That is not-!" he started to say when a loud boo went through the arena and quieted us. We peeked behind the curtain and see some ECW and WCW guys beginning to beat on Kane and The Undertaker. 

As one, all of our guys look at me. Looking at me as if I'm a leader. Why guilt nipped me is something I don't know. Maybe it was because I had just been in the arms of the woman who had given them their biggest thearth. That was it. And now they were looking at me as if I'm some kind of leader.

"Well?" Bradshaw asks. 

I take a deep breath. "Let's do it!"

"YEAH!" Matt and Jeff Hardy scearmed at the same time. With them leading the charge and me bringing up the rear in my ring attire, we run out and begin taking it to them.

We're out numbered. Of course they get the upperhand on us and all of them are taking it to us. I got kicked and punched and hurt so much that I wasn't really that helpful. I'm lying in a corner by a turnbuckle as three or four guys still kick me. I see Chris Jericho and a handful of others have two on them. It seems to me that the WCW and ECW want to wipe me, Jericho, Kane and the Undertaker off the face of the world. They're rolling the others out of the ring so they could work on us.

Through the agony, I hear the sound of the crowd roaring loudly, and in the next minute the sound of breaking glass fills the arena. I see Stone Cold Steve Austin running into the ring. From my bad vantagepoint I saw him distribute six Stone Cold Stunners. This guy is cleaning house!

Undertaker and Kane chokeslam two of the last guys at the same time and the ring rumbled beneath me. I can tell I'm the most beat up one. Jericho is probably right after me. He's climbing to his feet while I'm still leaning heavily into the turnbuckle. My legs and chest are on fire and they don't want to work. My head is pounding more than it should have been and the world is tilting about.

The fans are going nuts and cheering on Austin. I'm still in the turnbuckle. My breathing isn't that great. I feel weak and hollow and for some reason I know it's not just the beating that wore me down: it was Stephanie.

Still dazed and hurt, I don't see The Undertaker come up to me until his hand is directly in front of my face. I stare at it for a second, then bring my pounding head up to meet his eyes. They're not the stone eyes of the Undertaker that I'm looking into. They're the eyes of Mark Callaway, my friend.I'm not a big fan of Undertaker's, but I'm Mark's fan. This is guy and what he stands for is what I want to be. Strong. 

He knows I'm hurt. I take his hand and he heaves me to my feet. "You okay?" he yells. 

No, I'm not. "YES!" I scream. "YES!" 

Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle stand in the ring that night, side by side, looking up at the entrance to the ramp, as if daring anyone to try and stop us. Could anyone stop this force? The force made up of these five awesome men?

That question was answered at Invasion. And the force that would stop them? 

That would be me.

****

CHAPTER FOUR

Smackdown!

July 19, 2001

I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar that no one in the world would have guessed that on Thursday night, the unlikely team of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle would face the team of Rhyno and Booker T.

I didn't bet on it either. I wasn't even prepared. I was watching the highlights of last week on Raw is War, and watching JR and Michael Cole announce some of the events of that night when the thing went on: me and Austin on one side of the screen in front of a green backing, and the Booker T. and Rhyno is front of a purple backing. JR's voice said that it was going to be a memorial night with this match. I was already up and out of my chair and putting on my ring gear. 

That night was a memory for me. I was hiding. Hiding from Stephanie and her little minions Shane and Paul. I didn't want to see them so bad that I requested that I leave the sticker off my door (its mandatory that you do. Don't ask me why). Of course, they wouldn't let me, so I put my name on the sticker in small letters closed the door. As an afterthought, I put in the deadbolt, which is a major fire hazard.

I paced a lot. There wasn't much that I could do. I had gotten a locker room to myself at my request and the chance of running into Stephanie and Shane scared me so I stayed cooped up in the locker room for the twenty minutes when a knock came at the door.

The person tried to doorknob, but that didn't work. "Kurt?" It was Adam's voice. Christian was in a match tonight and Edge would be his partner. "Kurt, can I come in? I think we need to talk." I undid the deadbolt and Adam walked in, decked out in black pants and a black shirt unbuttoned at the top. His sunglasses came off as he came in. "Kurt, man, I'm sorry about what I said on Monday. That's personal, so I promise not to do it again. Friends?" He held out his hand.

I smiled. I shook his hand. "No problem. I was stressed, that's all. Nothing bigger. I'm sorry I snapped at you." Adam's relived and I had a feeling he had been thinking about it a lot since we'd seen each other.

"You did a great job on Monday," he said. "When you and the others ran out there. It was great. Me and Jay were sitting down and watching the whole thing. It was great! Kindda dramatic that it was the five of you standing in the ring."

"Well, they rolled the others out. They wanted to dismantle the ones they had to fight."

"Yeah. You looked really hurt. Are you okay?"

I looked down. I had a mild concussion, which wasn't really bad, just that headaches came a lot without warning, full-blown. I had a doctor-ordered drug in my new bag. "Yeah," I ended up telling Adam. "Yeah, I got a little concussion, but you know how it goes."

A little after that he left before I could go and deadbolt the door, a headache hit me. "Shit," I muttered, as I fell to my knees in front of the door. The deadbolt was forgotten. Pain was attacking my head. I felt as if my whole world was crashing down in front of me. I crawled a few feet, tears of pain welling inside my eyes. I heard a water tap dripping from the bathroom across from me. It sent whacking pains through my body and made me cry out.

I yapped and yapped as every now and then a fresh batch of pain hit. I crawled without any sense of direction. The pain was flashing as if there was a fire behind my eyes. The bright lights from the ceiling hit my eyes and a brand new pain made me cry out.

God, I was so weak. I was crying, I was crawling on my knees! I've had concussions before, and they hadn't reduced me to tears and to this weakness. The sensible part of my mind that I was surprised that was still intact told me I had been in a hospital at the time and heavily medicated, but the part of my mind that was going mad with pain didn't listen and was saying weak, weak, weak!

It felt as if someone was splitting my skull with an ax. God, I wished some blessed soul would do that for me and just plain put me out of my misery. 

Nausea ripped through me like a fire and something lodged in the back of my throat. Shit. I scrambled around and bumped into something. It was the bathroom toilet. I had made my way to the bathroom. Sensing what it was, I tore the lid off of the toilet and vomited whatever I had had in my stomach for the past day and a half.

I flushed the toilet like a damn fool. The pain was tremendous. I wanted to wrap my self up in a sheet of darkness and just lay there until the pain killed me. I was crawling weakly again, and my head bumped into something and it felt has if I had cracked my skull. It made give a short and small howl as I fell to the cold of the bathroom, all my strength finally leaving. I tried to curl in a ball but I couldn't. I had knocked a towel to the floor. I pressed my face against it and waited for the pain to end.

=====================

I thought it was a hallucination. The voice that sent pain rattling through me and the form that was walking around the room. It couldn't be real. I was wrapped in a sheet of pain, and it had to be a hallucination. I was floating on a gray cloud. 

"Kurt!" my pain-filled mind sorted. That was what the voice was saying. That was me. My name is Kurt Angle. The person was looking for me. "Kurt!"

There were two voices. A deeper one and a sweet one. I knew who they were. I knew them but they're names were locked in a pain-filled void that my mind was in. The noise hurt me. My ears were crying out. "KURT!" I whimpered tinselly, a strangled cry building in my throat. I wanted to die.

"Kur-oh, God! Shane, he's hurt!" Someone bent down the me, and I saw their hands and their knees. Something soft touched me. Silk. That's what it felt. Silk. "Shane! Shane, come here! " The voice was a shrieking sound. I whimpered again. Something was stroking my head. It didn't hurt, believe me or not.

Someone else was beside me the next second. I whimpered as the voices grew louder. "Kurt?" a female voice said softly. "It's Stephanie, Kurt. You're all right, now. You're all right." Pain exploded into my ears and the strangled cry that had been building inside of me burst like a bomb. She gasped.

A male voice now. It was reluctant. "We should get help," he said matter-of-factly. I wanted to kill him. His voice was loud.

"Turn off the light," I whispered. "Turn off the light." I was being rolled over and was now facing the light directly. I cried out. "Turn it off. Please, turn it off!" I shut my eyes tightly. Just make it go away. Please just make it all go away.

Beneath my eyelids, I saw that the light was turned off. But it still wasn't dark enough. Not even death would be dark enough to stop the pain that was rattling through my mind and the pain that my ears were in. Why didn't it all just go away!

More voices. Louder ones. "KURT!" I whimpered again. The soft hands that had been cradling my head left and were replaced by rough ones. Through my pain-filled mind I recognized the two who had come in: Adam and Jay. My friends. I peeked my eyes open. Jay's head was in my range of vision. "Jay!" I whimpered. "Medicine…it's in my bag…from the doctor…" I was sinking in and out of blackness. The medicine was in the form of a shot, actually. 

I was trembling as someone leaned me against the door to the bathroom. "What do I do?" Adam asked in a weak voice. Both of their voices were weak. They were really my friends. They were worried about me.

"My arm," I choked. "My arm." I had given myself that shot five times in the last three days, but my hands were shaking and I couldn't see right. "Put it in my arm."

A minute later a sharp point slid into me, but I was all ready pain-filled so I didn't really feel it. "Let's lay him down," Jay said. "Shane, you gotta help us." They turned away from me as I gasped and panted. Stephanie was beside me, holding my shaking hand and stroking my forehead. I couldn't see her face.

"No," Shane said flatly. My mind was beginning to work again. I whimpered, though, as his voice grew loud. "No, I won't. If-"

"Shane, just do it!" Stephanie screamed at him suddenly. Her face was inches from mine, and my ears erupted. I cried again, a couple of tears rolling down my cheeks and whimpered. Stephanie realized what she had done and quickly brushed my tears away and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly arms gripped me from my head and shoulders and the three of them were dragging me to the cot that was in every locker room in case a wrestler needed to rest. I needed to sleep. I needed to sleep bad. They laid me gently on the cot. The softness was welcoming and I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep right then.

"We need to tell Vince," Jay said. A sneer went on Stephanie's and Shane's faces at the sound of their father. I just closed my eyes and relaxed into the cot. I'm on my stomach, and I press my face into the pillow. The pain is slowly growing dull. Someone said something loud and it hurt, but not as bad as the first times. Someone turned on the light, and it hurt. Really hurt so that I whimpered and it turned off.

Jay must have left because it was Adam who spoke. "Get in the bathroom!" he hissed at Shane and Stephanie. "If Vince catches you in here, we're all dead!" He pushed them in the bathroom just as Vince McMahon came in, Mark, Kane, Chris and Jay behind him. He went right over to me and bent down.

"Kurt, what happened?" Are you okay?"

I hadn't spoken for awhile, and Chris beat me to the punch. "You look like shit." They all gave him dirty looks. He smiled. "Well, it's true! Take it easy, junior. Like you're going to be able to wrestle tonight!"

"I look great," I said.

"Shit."

"Great."

"Shit!"

"Great!"

"S-H-I-T! SHIT!"

Shit, he was talking loud. I let out a whimper that I tried to stop. Chris knew instantly what he had done. He had had a concussion just before King of the Ring and he knew how much it hurt. "Sorry, Kurt! I'm really sorry!"

Vince rolled his eyes and turned back to me. "Tell me what happened. Did you take medicine?" His gaze rolled to the syringe on the floor. "Was that it?" I nodded. It didn't hurt. Yeah!

"What happened? "

"Nothing, Vince. I just got a headache and needed to get the medicine."

"Jay told me you were on the floor when they found you."

"Errr…."

"I don't want you to wrestle. Invasion is three days away and the game plan is that you-"

"Perfect! That's great, Vince! You're absolutely right! Kurt shouldn't wrestle, he's hurt and Invasion is only three days away and the plan is perfect and all!" Adam sounds like a complete idiot, but he just saved my ass. What would have happened if Shane and Stephanie had heard our plan?

"Even your friend agrees with me! You're not fighting. "

What was I thinking earlier? I wanted to be the leader, so I had to fight! "Vince, I'm fine! All I was doing was putting the deadbolt in and then the headache came and I fell and then….shit…" My argument suddenly wasn't so convincing. Sure, he was going to let me wrestle when I had fallen from a headache by the door and the medicine was five feet away and I couldn't grab it. Oh, yeah, that was the smart thing to do.

"The deadbolt?" It had spiked Mark's interest. "Why would you put the deadbolt in? That's a fire hazard!"

"Mark, shut up!" I cried.

"But-"

"That's enough." Vince put an end to the fighting. "Kurt, where your bag is now, was that where it was when you fell?" I nodded. "You want me to let you fight when the bag was five feet away and you couldn't get to it? Is that it"

"I…I could have gotten it! I just went the wrong way, that was all!"

"Jay told me you were in the bathroom on the floor when they found you. Why were you in the bathroom?"

"Umm…"

"Yeah?"

"I threw up," I said flatly. "I don't know how I got to the bathroom, I just know that I was there. I probably crawled there on accident."

"You were crawling?" Vince asked. 

"Yes! I couldn't stand up. I fell."

"And you want to wrestle?"

"Yes!"

"Booker is good and so is Rhyno. DDP is probably going to come out and so will the Dudleys and you know the Dudleys love tables."

"I've been put through a table before, Vince."

"Ouch," both Adam and Jay said at the same time. They are, after all, survivors of TLC 1,TLC 2 and TLC 3.

"Give me one good reason I should let you fight."

I told him something that I probably shouldn't have said. "Because I'm going to fight whither you want me to or not."

Of course, that being made from me, Mark and Kane and Chris and Adam and Jay laughed their ugly heads off. Vince's face was masked with shock. My mind was snapping crazily. I wanted to laugh. I wasn't asking Vince for something, I was telling him something. 

Vince wasn't mad. He just looked at me warmly. For some reason. "Give me one match where you were hurt and you finished the match."

"Armageddon?"

"Hell no," Mark said. "You fucking won that match and you took the title I should have won away and you were walking. Rikishi had to be taken out in that truck that I dumped him in he was so heavy." The five of them laughed again. I smiled. Well, I had won that match, but he was right.

I racked my brain and found the perfect match. "SummerSlam 2000."

"Okay, what happened?"

"Triple threat for The Rock's belt. "

"Who else was in that match?"

I decided I might as well joke. Had to make him believe that I was fine. I had to be my normal cheery self. "You want the formal introduction?" That wasn't funny, but the guys were hooting anyways. "Or the informal introduction?"

"INFORMAL!" the guys shouted. I winced. Vince gave me a look as I consulted the pain. I tried to still continue with the joke, but my voice was shaky. They still laughed.

(A/N: I'll give you all a fair warning: a lot of bad words next part and I bashed Triple H, okay?)

"And now, entering the ring, weighing in at one million pounds, from who the hell cares, a fucking asshole who should have never been the Goddamn champ anytime, the one who fucking beat me in a match, the man who I distaste, the man who I can fucking beat the crap out of, the man who is a bloody idiot and a man, finally, who is not a man at all, please, stay in your seats for the biggest asshole of all: Triple Hash!"

They were cracking up. Chris was leaning against a wall to keep himself up, Kane was sitting down, Mark had his bandana over his head, Adam was trying to stand up and Jay was on the floor. Vince well…Vince was holding his head in his hands, laughing. 

I smiled. I wouldn't laugh. It would hurt too much. Finally, after about three minutes, Vince was staring intently at me. "That's my son-in-law, you know?" I nodded. He smiled. "If he somehow finds out you said that, I won't be responsible for what he does to you."

"Gotcha."

"And back to before. What injury?"

"Concussion about twenty minutes into it. Hunter Pedigreed me through the announce table. I was in the hospital for two days. Remember? You wanted to know why I wasn't there for Raw."

This guy really doesn't want me to fight. "Are you sure? What happened after?"

"Vince, I can't remember! All I remember was going through the table and then I was in the ambulance. You want proof of that? The paramedic who worked on me is my brother's wife! You want their number? He's probably not home, but I guess he wouldn't mind if I gave you his cell, so it's –"

"Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"I get the picture."

"Okay."

"Welll…then…get ready."

"You mean it?"

"Yes I mean it! So get ready."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, and if you get hurt and can't be at Invasion on Sunday…well, then you never know what might happen."

"Thanks, Vince, thanks! Do you want me to do cut a promo or something?" He shakes his head.

"Just get ready." He looked at my arm. "And clean up. Just what we need. For you to be spilling blood before the match even begins. Good luck." He and the others besides Adam and Jay all walk out. With some effort I sit up, and they sit next to me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Adam asked. "Cause you can still back out of it."

"Shut it, Adam. I gotta get ready."

"I suggest you go to make-up," Jay said. "You're still pale."

"Your hair is pale."

"Naw, its baby soft and it's blonde!"

"Dirty blonde," Adam remarked.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

"Guys, quit it."

Jay rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever you say. Where did Shane and Stephanie go?"

"Shit," I muttered as the two emerged from the bathroom. Stephanie and I looked at each other. The pain of what she did – both buying ECW and kissing me just to save Shane – still bit like an open wound. But she and Shane had been the ones who had found me. Did I owe them something?

"Hi," Stephanie said, her eyes never leaving mine. I wanted to take her in my arms again and just hold her. "I guess we better leave."

Jay doesn't think that's a good idea. "Why were you in here in the first place?"

Shane and Steph look at each other blankly, then just plain run out of the room.

================================

My music is playing. The arena is cheering me on. They want me to win this match. I want to get it over with. Shane, Stephanie and Paul Heyman are all out there, just wanting to be part of the action. I hoped they didn't interfere. 

Of course, I didn't expect what was going to happen.

I had been to make-up and I now had color back in my cheeks. My walk wasn't that great, but I could run and do all the moves and everything. So I walked down the ramp slowly, and not even waiting for Howard Finkle to get down with my intro, I ran to the ring. No backup. Just me versus Rhyno and Booker T. 

I knock Booker T. I really think that he's not trying hard, like he's holding back. Stephanie probably wanted him too. Not me, that's for sure. I do okay for a little while, but then the almighty Rhyno gores me and I land into the turnbuckle. 

My mind is jolting with pain from the screaming of the fans and the force of the blow. My eyes roll close as I lay there, my head against the padded turnbuckle. Booker T. and Rhyno are getting ready to advance towards me.

Breaking glass. Stone Cold Steve Austin runs to the ring and gives Booker T. a Stone Cold Stunner. He throws Rhyno into a turnbuckle and then gives him kicks and kicks and then suddenly the tape comes on.

DDP has abducted Austin's wife Debra! I watch as Austin looks at the tape, his jaw hanging open, and then I watch as he sprints down the ramp and into the back. The Titantron is clicking back from pictures of the ring to pictures outside. Everyone is in the back! DDP is driving away with Debra in the trunk, and Austin is chasing after him in a limo. COOL!

Pain is crashing through and through me. My mind is spinning and spinning and the world was passing through and through me. The people in the arena were on one side of me one minute, then the other the next.

Somehow I staggered to my feet. Pain was exploding in my back and my eye felt like hell. I walked like a drunk over to Booker T., and pounded on him, and drove him to the ground. Oh, look at it! The Dudley Boyz are running out. I manage to knock both of them out of the ring, which probably wasn't such a great idea.

I heard a growl from behind me and turned and the next thing I know, Rhyno is goring me into the mat. The pain burst inside of my ribs like a fire. I gasped desperately as Rhyno and Booker T. set to the task of trash talking me as Shane and Paul and Stephanie jeered at me from outside the ring.

I rolled over to the over side of the ropes, away from the announce table. I grabbed the ropes and tried to swing to my feet. I managed to make it half way up before someone grabs my chin and heaves me to my feet. It's Bubba Ray Dudley.

He punches me and I fling back into the ropes when I suddenly saw it: the table, and D-Von, standing on the other side of it. I staggered forward, and I was treated to a Dudley Death Drop: A Three Dee through a table. 

The pain is amazing. The humiliation is more amazing. I don't know why I'm ashamed. It was four guys on one, and I had a concussion that not even an hour ago had drove me to a point where I couldn't even walk. Yet I felt ashamed. Ashamed that I was the message to my company: WCW and ECW were going to win by any means, and I was the lamb they chose to send their message.

Lying in the remains of that table, my neck in agony, my eye swelling, my stomach wanting to vomit there and then, I've never felt more pain. I wanted to scream and scream until my larynx just plain fell out. But then, I discovered, the pain wasn't over yet. 

I stared up at the lights, my eyes wanting to shut. I felt like I was dying. Maybe the bright lights were heaven. I watched them, watching.

Oh, look, it is heaven! Heaven has angels…angels that look…like Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley?! What in the world? Wait…. I'm not dead yet. Stephanie is above me, sneering at me. She still looks beautiful. She said something to me:

"We gave you a chance and you blew it. We're going to have to show you the truth the hard way."

====================================

Go ahead, it sucked. Say it. Well, again, sorry about the longness. I'll try for shorter next time. Remember to review!

And to come….Invasion! (Blazer style)

~Blazer~


	3. Chapter 5- Invasion (Blazer Style)

Here's the first thing to say: When Kurt was talking to Vince before the Brawl began, I was getting myself a Coke float, and by the time I came back, I only saw the ending of what Kurt said. My sister told me what happened, and the little tiny conversation that Kurt has with Vince is a lot from my imagination and what I think Kurt would have said. From what I understand, he was pissed. 

Most of the medical stuff is wrong. I just made it up, so correct me. If you checked the Ross Report at WWF.com, Angle did have a black eye and whiplash and Jericho had a black eye as well. Austin had broken three bones in his back (give the man props. He still had the match with that) and his hand was still screwed up from when he went through that table at King Of The Ring. I didn't mention that. 

To clear up confusion when the wrestlers are in the ring or in character or have a match, I put their stage names. When they are backstage, don't have a match, and are out of character, I use their real names (Example: I Adam and Jay for Edge & Christian a lot because they aren't in character or in a match or that junk. Another example: I use The Undertaker and Jericho's stage names in the end when they are having the Brawl, but I use Chris (Irvine) and Mark (Callaway) any other time.) I didn't use Kane's name (Glenn Jacobs) at all. I like Kane better.

Long author's note… and I try not to do that…damn…R&R!

~Blazer~ 

**WHICH WAY WILL HE GO?**

CHAPTER FIVE – INVASION (BLAZER STYLE)

__

Invasion 

Cleveland, Ohio

The Gund Arena

July 22, 2001

On Thursday's edition of Smackdown, I injured myself even more. Before my match that night, I had already had a concussion, which about thirty minutes prior to that had driven me to my knees with pain. In the match, my injuries worsened. I have a little whiplash, and now my eye is black. Its not too serious, and it isn't swelled shut, it's just that my upper eyelid is drawn down more than usual, but they're take care of it in make-up.

I've already mentioned the concussion. Yes, I still have it. Concussions just don't go away in a week. Luckily, I have a medicine in the form of a shot. If I take that every three hours the headaches that drove me to the ground in pain on Thursday won't happen. Now I can walk better and when the lights turn on and the voices are loud, I don't cry out. 

Tonight. The night to end all nights. "Here's to the nights we felt alive, here's to the tears you've know you've cry, here's to good-byes, tomorrow's gonna come too soon…" That's a song by Eve 6, if you want to know. Damn, it sure as hell described tonight.

Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley. That's her name. I wish Hemsley wasn't at the end. The Hemsley comes from Triple H, who is currently at a rehab center in Alabama. 

Okay, yeah, you probably know all this. You know about it all. Okay, Kurt, time to move on. 

"We gave you a chance and you blew it. Now we're going to have to show you the truth the hard way."

Hard way. Being put through a table is hard enough. I don't need anything more hard. Anyhowz…

I have a headache. I hadn't been able to give myself the shot that I was supposed to an hour ago. My bag is in my locker and the locker is in the locker room. And I'm in the gym. I do have a work-out schedule. I was the gym for half an hour when I realized it was time to take the shot. And I couldn't leave in the middle of training! 

See, I'm supposed to not do anything for an hour after I take the shot so the thing can work itself through my blood (it's a doctor thing). If I left and took the shot, by the time I came back I would only have on more hour to train and probably less. I couldn't do that. Tonight was the biggest fight of my life (okay, okay, maybe the Olympics was the biggest ) and I needed my two hours. 

So, there I was, lifting weights while my head screamed and hissed. My breath is shaggy. Adam a.k.a. Edge walks over from his weights. "Kurt, you took your shot, right?"

Now, I love Adam. He and Jay a.k.a. Christian are my two best friends. But Vince McMahon has assigned me a watch dog that checks with me every hour so we don't have a repeat of what happened on Thursday. Last hour it was Jay. Now it's Adam.

"Yes, Adam," I said patiently. Man, I hope my voice doesn't sound weak. He shrugged and walked away. Yippe for me. I went back to my weights.

Finally the trainer called an end to it. He blew the whistle and me and Adam and Jay and a handful of others stop. I eyed the door. It was tilting crazily. The light began to sting and the loud voices of my co-workers began to make my ears want to close. I'm the first one out of the gym and running down the hall. 

I burst into my locker room that I'm sharing with Adam and Jay. I had to hurry. I panted. If they caught me just now injecting myself, they were going to kill me. My legs are barley able to move. The gym bag seems to be everywhere…my vision is now making everything in nines…nine gym bags…nine shirts… 

My knees feel ready to buckle. I staggered towards the bag. It's blue and white, and the colors are swirling, mixing with the black and the gray color that was already in my eyes. The light is on. It hurts like hell. I feel about ready to heave. 

I had left the door open. "Kurt?" Shit. I knew it wasn't Adam and Jay. It was a soft and sweet voice. Rich and powerful, someone that I knew. My pain-filled mind wouldn't place it. "Kurt, are you okay?" Someone has come over to me. Someone is holding my arm and I think it's what kept me from doubling over right there and then.

"Kurt, did you take that shot?"

"No," I wheezed to whoever the hell it was. "No. My bag…" My arms are shaking. The person leaves me for a moment. 

"Kurt! Kurt, are you okay?" It's Adam's voice from outside. I can hear him and Jay coming to the room. I froze. Shit! I didn't want them to find me and tell Vince…

Suddenly someone is moving me. The light is off and my eyes aren't stinging too badly. We're moving to the bathroom. The door was shut about a moment before I heard one slam open.

"Kurt?" Jay. I heard him sigh. "Maybe he went to the trainers' office. Let's go look for him." A door slams shut, and then a light turned on. My legs gave way as I fell to the tile floor, whimpering.

I'm all sweaty and hot from the workout, but all of a sudden I'm cold. My body is shaking and my mind is rattling. Somebody is holding my hand. "Kurt?" The person is running their hands through my hair…like on Monday…I know who this is.

"Stephanie?" I gasped, falling to my side and trying to curl up in a ball. I'm so cold. I think my teeth are clattering. 

"Yeah, it's me." I finally open my eyes. The light hurts. Yep. There she is in a black shirt and black jeans. Her hair is wet. She's beautiful…she always is…

"Kurt, did you take the shot?"

"No…I was…in the gym…"

She makes this sighing sound. "Kurt, here's the syringe."

"I can't…"

"Why not? I can't do it!"

"Don't talk that loud. My hand is shaking…"

"Kurt, please don't make me do this."

"I can't do it…just don't get Adam or Jay!" 

"No! I'm not doing it!"

"Then…leave! Just don't tell Vince! He'll get mad!" I think I'm sobbing now. I can feel something wet rolling down my cheeks. 

"I won't tell him, all right! Just tell me how to do this damn shot!"

"In my right arm in the center. Hold it for ten seconds." I'm watching her through half-closed eyes as she hits the plunger and the medicine enters my blood. Instantly the pain starts to loosen. The light doesn't hurt too bad and now the dripping of the water in the sink doesn't sting that much. But I'm still cold.

She tried to help me sit up. I'm not exactly helping. My body is weak and exhausted. I feel so tired. I want to sleep so badly. Gathering a lot of the strength that I have left, I yanked myself up so that I was leaning against the wall. Breathing heavily, I saw her crouching in front of me.

She smiled at me as I looked at her. "Thanks," I whispered. I'm still trembling. A look of concern washed over her face. "Are you okay?" My first thought is to lie, but then again, she can usually tell when I'm lying. So I shook my head. "Cold," I muttered.

And she smiled! "Kurt, first, we need to talk about you coming to the Alliance." Great. They named it. Now it was final. I shook my head again. "Kurt, you're coming. Tonight. At Invasion. Got it?" I still shake my head. Yeah, I'm grateful and all to her, but there's not a thing that will make me defect. 

Again, she's smiling. Why? I've got no idea. "We had some unfinished business on Monday, didn't we?" Oh, we are so not going to talk about that! Just looked at her. "Kurt, you can profit so much from you coming to the Alliance. You can be a star! You can be cheered! You can be evened! Kurt, you can have power!" And I'm still just looking at that. Oh, no, I am so not buying that! I like being a heel and all, but if I'm a heel, I'm going to be a heel for the WWF!

She shook her head at me. That smile is still playing on her face. She's leaning towards me. "Then what can I do to make you change your mind?" she asked. And before she can finish she grabbed my neck and she's kissing me.

For some reason it just feels…right. But some force inside of me is holding me back. I sit there in numb shock as she kisses me. Finally she lets me go and stares at me. 

It took so much out of me to tell her "nothing." 

Her face crumbles. A pain is deep within her eyes. I think she wants to cry. Then, her face is red and mad. "Fine, then, Kurt!" she screamed. "Fine! Now we're going to have to do this the hard way!" She slammed the door open. "This isn't over, Kurt! I'll see you later tonight! You're coming as wither you like it or not!" 

And she's stalking off out of the locker room and out of my life… for the moment.

Paul Heyman and Shane McMahon were shuffling over paper in the locker room on the west side of the arena, the side that belonged to Alliance. Shane picked one up. "This is a good one," he said. He gave it to Paul. Paul studied it, but shook his head. Shane sighed.

"These are the times I thank the Lord for bringing me into this family," Shane muttered. He looked over the sea of paper thrown over the desk. "Thank God for giving me access to these files."

"Amen!" Paul agreed. "Without your stock, we'd never be able to pull this off."

It pleased Shane that he was rich. Rich people were usually marked as snooty, but Shane thought he and Stephanie were the exception. 

Well, he and Steph weren't snooty at all! They weren't spoiled or anything! (Blazer: whatever you say, Shane. Opps! I didn't mean to say that! Shane tosses her out of story quickly. As she flies away, Blazer screams : I'm gonna make Kurt kick your candy -)

"Here's a great one!" Paul suddenly held up a book. " He's even signed it for us! I can copy it right now and then we can do whatever else we need to do!"

"This is good, too!" Shane held up a paper. "It's a copy of his contract from here! Perfect!" He and Paul smiled at each other when the door yanked open and Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley walked in, her face emotionless.

Both Shane and Paul jumped up. "Well?" 

Stephanie stomped over to a cooler and ripped a Coke out. She drank a long gulp before finally turning to the. "I did everything I could," she said. "I tired everything I could! He wouldn't! I can't believe it! I kis-"

Shane's eyes narrowed. "You kissed him? Again? Stephanie, you're married!" Stephanie hid her eyes. Shane felt hot anger build like a furnace inside of him. That was just what he needed. For his sister to fall for someone he hated and couldn't stand. "Steph! I can't believe you!"

"It saved you last time," Steph said moodily. "He liked it last time. He loved it last time and it got rid of him. We got beer?" She tossed the can in the trash. She felt so empty and useless now. She wanted to drown in her troubles and make it all just go away and leave her be! 

Shane sighed. He had to let it pass for now. His lovesick sister was going to have to wait. They had business. "We can't just make him join us. Even with the contract he can still revolt. No matter how real it may seems, an expert can tell it's a fake and Kurt will do just that. He still has his contract with WWF, anyways. Dad'll back him on that. "

"So we're stuck?" Stephanie shrieked. "You mean this is all for nothing?"

"No, its not all for nothing," Paul said suddenly, looking up for the first time. He grinned. "His friends are Edge and Christian, right?" Stephanie and Shane nodded. "Well…"

I am really annoyed now. Just when I laying down to sleep, the door banged open and in walked my watch dog for the hour: Jeff Hardy. How Vince chose them is a mystery to me. Probably ordered the first person he saw three minutes to the hour. Jeff for one looked angry and red.

"Are you okay?' he asked in that North Carolina accent of his. His eyes are concerned, even though his voice is red-hot. I gave him a mean look. He gave me the finger and shut the door and left me on the cot.

That was an hour ago. Now I'm talking to the Big Show. He woke me up a minute ago by putting his leg on foot on the cot and I was tipped down. "I'm FINE!" I scearmed at him as he left the room, convinced that I needed mental help. 

Honestly, this check-up thing is getting on my nerves. It is so annoying! One minute I'm doing something and the next I have to talk to the watch dog guy. I checked my watch. It was barley two.. I had five hours. Enough time to go to the hotel, have a two hour or so nap, take a shower, then come back to the arena and get ready. I had plenty of time. I could go call my mother and have a nice conversation with her for awhile. 

Now I just had to time my get-away perfectly. The Big Show just left. It would take me at least fifteen minutes to get out of the Gund Arena, it's so big has so many weird places. It's easy to get lost. I quickly gathered up my things. Adam and Jay were all ready gone…so that meant they were at the hotel…like some of the others superstars and that would make it harder…man, I needed a disguise!

I sorted through my bag. I have my sunglasses and a pull-over sweater and a hat…shouldn't that be enough? My ring attire was at the hotel, but Vince had hired guys to bring it over so I didn't have to worry about that. Just as I was about to pull the sunglasses out of my bag, Stephanie, Shane, and Paul Heyman come in.

"Great," I muttered. "Just great." I had changed from the clothes I had worked out in and was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. I'm sure I looked dashing (Adam and Jay told me otherwise)! I turned to meet them, crossing my arms. "Get out of here," I growled, not looking at Stephanie. 

Paul put a hand up. I wanted to sock him. I could beat him and Shane in the same match with the rules of a Street fight match. I was going to do it now if they got on my nerves. "We have a deal," Paul started.

"What part of no do you not understand? I'm not defecting to WCW. There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind. I don't want to be in WCW and frankly, I don't need to be in there. " I glared at Paul.

To my surprise, he was smiling. "I think we can make you change your mind, Angle." I watch him wearily. My great escape ruined. Thanks. Thanks a lot. "Guys, c'mon in!" And before I can do a thing, Booker T., Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno, DDP, Tazz and Raven had stepped in. I think my jaw may have been hanging open.

But then I laughed. "Okay, okay, you can beat me up, but I'm still not going to WCW." Then I took a real good look at Austin. Our eyes met. Why was he here? Standing by DDP, no less, the person who had abducted his wife. His eyes had an evil look in them.

Shane saw us looking at each other. "Steve has decided to join us."

Okay, now I know that my jaw dropped open. "Steve!" I stare at him. "Steve, why? Vince has given you everything, Steve! You're the leader of the team! You can't-"

Before I can say anymore, Austin and Booker and Rhyno are on me, and they drove me to the ground with kicks and punches. As they back off a minute later, I'm breathing hard and my body is in sweet agony. My head had banged against a wall and pain was flashing. I needed to take that shot in the next hour. 

"So, Kurt," Shane said as he stepped over me. "Don't ask any questions. You just do what we tell you to do. You got that?" Barely able to control my rage, I nodded. "So, you can do this easy or you can do it hard. Do you or do you not want to go to WCW?"

"NO!"

He grinned at me. "Your friends are Edge and Christian, right?" I nodded. "Well, here's the thing: you either join WCW or we'll hurt Edge and Christian harder than you can ever imagine."

Anger burst inside of me like a spring. It boiled hotly inside of me and flowed through my veins and centered in my heart. They were threatening my best friends. My best friends, not even aware of this, were being threatened and they wouldn't even know why. I closed my eyes. Beating up on me was one thing, but beating up on Adam and Jay was another.

I have about five brothers, and I'm the youngest. They were always, and I mean always, beating on me. Now I had two best friends at least four years younger than me. The thing about me that I'm awfully protective of the things that I like. Now I have friends young enough to be my brothers, and like hell I was going to let anything happen to them.

I opened my eyes and Shane crouched down right in front of me. I glared. "Only three of them beat up on you," he said in a low voice. "Only three. What would happen if I sent all of the Alliance guys on them?" 

Yes, my mind answered. Yes, I can. 

"Are you in or are you out?" He held something in front of me. It was a copy of a WCW contract… with my name in it. "But even if you decide not to, you already signed the contract, so it doesn't really matter." My gym bag had a copy of my contract in it…and a bunch of other thing with my name on it…those bastards! "Are you in or are you out?" asked Shane again.

I had no other choice…

"I'm in."

****

INVASION (BLAZER STYLE )

PART TWO

It would be safe to say that I was pissed off. 

First, I was being forced to join a company I hated, second I was betraying my best friends, and third, now I probably wasn't going to get the two hour nap I wanted. Angrily I left the hotel, showered and dressed in sweat pants and my basketball jersey.

I waved down a taxi. The show was going to start in two hours and Shane had ordered me to meet him an hour beforehand. I had waited until the last possible minute to grab a taxi. I wanted to wait until most of the others had left. To my knowledge, the only ones still in the DoubleTree was Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy. I don't know why.

The taxi driver was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes. He smiled at me as I sat down. "Where to?" he said cheerily. 

"Gund Arena," I grunted. "Hurry."

"I can't speed now, can I?" asked the man as he turned the keys and the car inched into the heavy traffic. "My name's Brian. "

"Kurt," I said.

"You going to the WWF Invasion?" Brian wondered. "I've driven seven people there all ready. Nice profit, that's for sure."

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm going."

"My kid loves that. I didn't have enough money to take him, though. Really bites. I hate it. I promised him I would take him, but then I got laid off and I didn't have enough for tickets. Poor kid. He wanted to see Kurt Angle so bad. His favorite."

I kept my head low. "Yeah, too bad."

"Much. His name is Ian. He has a stomach tumor. He really wanted to see it. It was his wish." I looked and saw tears in Brian's eyes. He must have saw me looking because he turned his head. "Opps. Sorry. All my friends keep telling me I'm too open about my emotions. Sorry."

"Will he live?"

"We don't know. He needs a surgery that we can't afford yet."

I made my decision before I knew I was even thinking it. "Go get your kid," I said.

"What?"

"Turn this cab around and drive to where you live and pick up your kid. Here's my cell phone. Call and tell him to get ready."

"Mister-"

"I can get you tickets to this WWF thing and I'll pay for the surgery. Just do it, all right?"

"Mister-"

"Just do it, Brian. Your kid wants this." Brian's eyes were wide as he made the call.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded as he turned the car. Damn Shane. I don't turn my back on fans. That's that.

"My name," I said slowly," is Kurt Angle."

He jerked his head back as I slid off my sunglasses. He gasped. I smiled at him. "Kurt-Kurt Angle?" He banked a hard right into a small street. "You're Kurt Angle?"

"Yes, I am," I answered, checking my watch. If we hurried, then we would be able to get there in time for my meeting with Shane. 

He parked into a space in front of a crappy house with a slanted roof. We both got out. He stared at me even as we walked up the steps. The door blew open when we got there and there was a bald kid who looked to be about ten or eleven. "Dad-" he started, but stopped when he looked at me.

"Kurt-Kurt Angle?"

"Hi, Ian."

"Kurt Angle! You're really Kurt Angle?"

I nodded. He stared at me as if he was a ten year old girl staring at a Backstreet Boy (A/N: My favs, to let you know. Lineup: Brian [Brian, taxi driver guy? Get it?] Littrell, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean, Howie Dorough. I had to tell you all, sorry!).

"You ready, Ian?" Brian asked. Ian seemed to have gone into shock. His blue-green eyes were staring at my head. Ian was bundled up tightly. Brian moved to his son's side and poked his head in. "Carol!" he yelled. "Carol, we're leaving! We won't be home until around midnight!"

"But there-!" a woman's voice shouted back.

"BYE!" Brian shut the door quickly. He shuffled Ian to the back seat of the cab as Ian gawked at me the whole way. I climbed into the front seat and Brian yanked the car into the traffic. 

"Dad, are we, where are we going?" asked Ian's little voice.

"To Invasion, sweetie."

"But-"

"I'm paying," I voulenteered.

"Are you really Kurt Angle?" Ian poked his head between the two seats. He was looking between me and Brian.

"Yes, I am."

"Cool! Wait until I tell all my friends!" He looked at me. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm a friend of your dads."

"Dad! You never told me." I dug in my bag. I took out my cell phone. 

I dialed. "Adam?" 

"Kurt?" It was Jay's voice.

"Hey, Jay. Where's Adam?"

"Looking for his sunglasses…he isn't going to find them though…"

"I never spoke to you."

"I knew I liked you!"

"Okay, okay, I need two ringside tickets."

"Why?"

"I've got a couple of friends and they need tickets."

"You need to talk to Vince."

"No. No, I can't." I didn't want to talk Vince. I was afraid I was going to slip. "I need tickets, Jay. Just get them for me, okay?"

"Kurt, it's sold out! I can't get ringside seats!"

"Gimme a break! Yes you can! You did when we were in Canada for-"

"That was my family!"

"Welll…this is mine! My brother's brother-in-law's uncle and his kid. Uh… two times removed."

"But-"

"I'm going to tell Adam."

"I hate you."

"Just do it, Jay." I hung up.

Brian eyed me. "Thanks. Thanks a lot!"

"Wait until all my friends see me on TV! They'll be so jealous! And I got to meet Kurt Angle. Dad! I forgot my hat!"

"Here." I gave him on my old hats that we used to sell. It has my name on it and a fire. Ian gasped as he took the hat from me. He slipped it on. "Good fit?" He nodded. 

"Will…will you sign it?"

I smiled and signed it. We pulled into the arena fifteen minutes. The guard at the gate stopped us. "Ten dollars," he grunted.

"Dave, it's me." I leaned across the seat and showed him my pass. Yes, even us superstars need passes. My mom and Dave are old friends. Sometimes fate is really weird.

"Oh, hi, Kurt. Go that way. It's the arena parking."

"See ya."

"Good luck!"

We drove to a parking lot that was under a hanger. It was brightly lit. The time was five from seven. Man, I was late! We parked quickly and I jumped out. "Cool!" Ian kept chanting. "C'mon," I urged as we walked swiftly to the tunnel leading to the locker room area. 

Where was Jay? I didn't want to take Brian and Ian into the locker room area. I didn't want anyone to see them and ask questions- or let it slip to Ian that I was going to defect to the Alliance. I didn't want to break the kid's heart. I was convinced he was my biggest fan. 

"Stay here, all right?" I told Brian as we stopped at the tunnel. "I'll be right back. I just need to go and get the tickets for you two. And then maybe you can come backstage. Just stay here." I saw Ian's worried look. "I'll be back. Promise."

I burst through the door into the tunnel. The halls were brightly lit and I made my way to my locker room. _C'mon, Jay. Tell me you got them, tell me you have them._ I swung the door open and stepped into my locker room. 

Adam was sitting there, lacing up his boots. "Well, it took you long enough to get here," he said in annoyance.

"Where's Jay?"

"He's off talking to Kelly." Kelly is the ticket lady. We can always go to her for tickets and she usually pulls through. She's hired by the WWF for that reason: to get tickets to the wrestler's families. I think it's a funny job, but more than once Kelly has come through for me, getting me tickets for my brothers about an hour before the show started. She's a real life-saver, that Kelly.

The door opened. Jay was all ready in his ring attire and his sunglasses were perched on his forehead, on the verge of falling off. He two tickets gripped in his hands. "Are those them?" I pointed.

Jay snorted at me. He passed them to me. "Man, you owe me big time!" He flopped next to Adam. "She had me on my knees for those. Jesus, that woman is harsh! You're so lucky. Those tickets were for a couple. They had a car accident coming over here, so she had those up for grabs."

A slice of pain whipped me, but I held it down. Adam and Jay were such good friends and now I was turning my back on them and the company that had made me what I am today. I've never felt this low. "Thanks, Jay. Anything you want, name it!"

"Let me think about that…"

"See you!" I raced out of the door and back into the parking lot where Ian was happily running his hands over and over. Brian was looking on with a smile. "Hi, guys. I've got your tickets." I handed them to Brian.

Brian's eyes were watering. "I can't thank you enough," he choked out so that Ian wouldn't hear. "You've been so good…and I just met you…and you're paying for Ian's surgery…thank you so much. This means the world to him. Thank you."

I smiled. "It's no problem. I can't ignore the father of my biggest fan, can I?" I didn't wait for an answer but walked over to Ian. I wanted him to meet someone else. Someone who was his other favorite. I've been in this business long enough to know that you don't have just one favorite. "Who else do you want to meet, Ian?"

He thought about that for a second. "The Hardy Boyz!" he cried.

Shit. They were still at the hotel.

"Ian, they're-"

"Did somebody call our name?" Matt and Jeff Hardy are strolling to us merrily, their bags over their shoulders. Ian's mouth dropped open as Jeff and Matt and I bobbed our heads at each other. "Hey, Kurt," Matt said. "Who are your friends?"

"This is Brian…Brian…"

"Enriquez," Brian finished. "And this is my son Ian."

Ian was staring at Matt as if he were Santa Claus. "He's a fan," I muttered as both Jeff and Matt went over to Ian. Matt nodded.

"Hi, Ian!" Jeff said brightly, flashing a smile. "You coming to Invasion?" All Ian could do was nod. "Cool. Got good seats?" Another nod. 

Matt tried to sniffle a giggle. He reached in his bag and pulled out the shirt that Jeff usually wears in the ring. He also brought out a hat and handed it all to Ian. "Here ya go, Ian. This is all for you. Tell your friends that they had better be for Team Extreme."

"Cool!" Ian jumped up, holding the stuff. "Will you sign it? I have a pen!" 

"Sure, kid." Matt and Jeff took turns signing the things. "Have a great time, Ian," said Jeff. "Want to be a honorary member of Team Extreme?"

"Really!" Matt and Jeff quickly taught Ian their knuckle thing they do before all their matches as Brian and I watched on. "You guys are so nice…" he muttered. That took a bit of the guilt out and made me feel a bit better.

"Bye, Ian!" Matt and Jeff walked over to Brian. "You got a nice kid," Jeff said. We watched Ian staring at his things. "Thank you," Brian started.

Matt held up a hand. "No. No thank you. We need all the fans we can get and like doing things for them. But you're welcome, anyways. We have to get ready, so excuse us." They walked away without looking back. "I can't believe you gave him my jersey," I heard Jeff say to Matt. I laughed shortly.

Matt and Jeff Hardy are just like that. Always fun loving, always willing to lend a hand. They always leave you with this feeling of happiness. That's why they're fan favorites and that's why everybody I know, inculding me, looks up to them.

__

If only I could be like that, I thought as I watched Brian laugh with Ian over something, _if only I could be like that._

=============================

I left Ian and Brian at their seats. I figured I could make it back to them just before the show Sunday Night Heat ended and say good-bye. Ian might not want to talk to me after my match. That was why I had taken Adam and Jay, Mark, Jericho, Lita, Crash Holly, Al Snow, Kane, the APA, Test, K-Kwik, and Mick Foley (all his favorites) over to meet him all ready. Ian had a huge pile of signed things on his lap.

I was ten minutes late for my meeting with Shane. I went to the locker room that they were using. Shane and Stephanie and Paul were there. A cooler of beer was also there. So Stone Cold must have been there. I smelled it on Stephanie and Paul's breath, which worried me. Stephanie never drinks.

"What took you so long?" Shane roared. He pointed at a chair and I sat.

"I was delayed."

"Doing what?"

"None of your damn business."

"It is my business-"

"Shane, get to the point!" Paul said. He and Stephanie looked okay. I saw four beer cans on the floor. Jesus. Two each… then Stephanie had least should be swaying. Her eyes did look a bit unfocused.

Shane suddenly looked at me dead in the eyes and laughed. "What?" I demanded angrily. 

"Your eye," he laughed. My black eye, in other words. "We hurt you bad, huh? Ha. And you deserved every bit of it. " I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from lashing out at Shane. 

"Shane, just get to the point," said Paul again. Now, he sounded a bit bubbly. 

"Okay, okay. This is what you're going to do…."

Vince wanted me to talk to him. I pissed off again at this. I had to be mad. I had to be. If I wasn't mad, I would fall apart and slip. Jay and Adam had burst into the locker room about an hour ago, laughing their heads off because they won, caught up in their celebration, I almost let it slip. 

I hadn't been to makeup yet to cover the worst part of my eye so when I walked into Vince's locker room, the camera stayed on the left side of my face and didn't show the right side. "Now, Kurt," Vince began, " remember what this is all about. Remember the Olympics, and the gold medal, and the American way. Remember what they did to you on Smackdown! Remember what they did to you on Raw! They humiliated you, Kurt! You need to do this for your country! You do it for America! You do it for –"

I had had it with this guy. "Enough with this American bullshit," I cut him off. "Enough. Yeah, I'll do it for country. Yeah, and I'll do it for my company. But most of all, I'm going to do it for me." With that I turned and left the room.

I slammed the door when I left.

****

INVASION (BLAZER STYLE)

PART THREE 

I have these new boots that are white and red and blue. As I look at them as I'm getting ready. What was I thinking when I bought them? They didn't even really go with my body outfit. They were actually ugly. I put them on anyways. I needed something new, even if they were some of the ugliest boots I have ever seen.

My match is in twenty minutes. In twenty minutes I'm betraying the best friends that I have. I'm betraying the company that I love and defecting to the one that I hate. Adam and Jay are checking on Jeff Hardy, I've told you that they are friends and Jeff's hardcore match looked really bad. They probably wouldn't be back in time to wish me luck, but they had promised to watch my match. Yeah. That's really what I wanted them to do.

So when Paul and Shane and Stephanie and Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rhyno and DDP and the Dudley Boyz and Booker T walked in, Adam and Jay were gone. Thank God.

"Ready, Kurt?" Shane said merrily like we were the best of friends. I nodded. "Great!" He turned and the others gathered around him in a semi-circle. I stared at the ground, putting my arms on my thigh and leaning forward. 

I wasn't really listening to what Shane was telling them. I knew that he was getting them pumped up for the match, but I didn't care what he was saying. I had sank into an empty gray void where all I heard were these flashes of sounds. I was alone now. Alone to deal with the pain of this, the pain of what was going to happen.

No one could touch me in this void. I was alone. 

Stone Cold Steve Austin did a promo with Vince. He talked about how he was all for the WWF and how he was going to go there and win it for us. Bastard.

My music played. Jericho and The Undertaker and Kane are all ready out there. As are all of the others on the ECW/WCW team. As are Stephanie and Shane and Vince and Paul. Kane and The Undertaker and Jericho are standing in the ring. Cole said it had a meaning that we were dominant. The Undertaker said he just got in the ring because no one else was in there. Announcers screw everything up. 

I did my fireworks thing and before Austin could come out, the fight began! I ran and charged at Booker T. 

That match was a good forty minutes long at lest. I've watched a tape of it. It looked like a great match. Austin pretended to hurt his leg so he wouldn't have to fight (JR and Cole didn't say a lot about that). The Undertaker was chasing DDP through the arena (comic relief). Kane had been put through their table (Cole actually screamed when that happened) and Jericho had just put himself through a table(he told me he had only meant to put Rhyno through the table but while he was leaping he tripped and went headfirst into Rhyno and then through the table, so he did put himself through the table.)

And me? I was lying in the ring with Booker T. We were both down. I can't remember why. Booker T must have started to stir. I saw Shane slid the WCW title in the ring. Where was The Undertaker? I needed him here! 

Vince slid into the ring. Booker T was up! I leapt wearily to my feet. Vince was standing in back of me. Booker was holding the title. I fell to the floor just as the title flew towards me. It hit Vince instead and knocked him to the ground. Yeah. 

And suddenly the Undertaker is running back towards the ring! He must have disposed of DDP in a trash can. He runs into the ring as I pushed Booker down. Austin is coming. He's dragging the ref and together they roll into the ring. The Undertaker is in the ring and all three of us face Booker, who is in a corner and begging us. 

The Undertaker steps forward first. Austin and me take the opportunity to grab the two chairs that Shane had thrown in the ring. We raised them high as he steps on side of The Undertake and I take the other. 

And taking a page out of Edge and Christian's book, we gave Mark Callaway a conchairto. 

I honestly can't recall most of what happened after that. I remember someone counting to three, my arm being raised high, and the roar of thousands of people.

And I remembered a little boy's face, heartbroken.

===================================

Did cha like it? I did! What happened at Invasion never happened. From here on out, none of this happened, okay? Thanks!

~Blazer~


	4. Chapters 6-7

Okay, tell me this: did or did not Michael Cole announce Raw Is War the day after Invasion? Did he announce Invasion? I don't remember, so I put made Cole announce the two nights and he will announce them (in this story) until I decide otherwise.

Terribly sorry this is so long. I just wanted to fit so much in this part. Please don't stop half way through because it is too long, because its really good, and that's the first time I've ever said one of my stories is good.

Disclaimer-anything that isn't owned belongs to me. WWF, ECW/WCW, Limp Bizkit and its songs, Backstreet Boys and their songs, and anything else doesn't belong to me. I only own the little people that are not owned. If Vince McMahon sees this somehow, don't sue me! If you do, you'll only get about…uh… three dollars? 

Again, sorry for the length. And I know Kurt is married. Kurt, if you somehow read this, I'm SORRY! Alright, hope you enjoy, and thank you!

~Blazer~

****

WHICH WAY WILL HE GO?

****

CHAPTER SIX

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Invasion

The Gund Arena

Cleveland, Ohio

July 22, 2001

The Alliance won that match, of course, and Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin turned into the biggest heels in the whole wrestling world. Batteries were heaved at me as I was leaving. One hit my head.

I never looked at Brian or Ian as I limped out of the ring. I saw them on the Titantron, though, and Ian was heartbroken, and I saw Brian laughing and trying to calm him down. Brian didn't know it was real. Nobody thought it real except for kids and for the wrestlers. 

I had hurt my leg somehow. I remember being knocked down hard by something and after that a sizzling pain that quickly stopped. Now it had come back full force and was centering in my knee. I needed another shot, and badly. 

As soon as we entered the backstage area, ECW/WCW people surrounded Austin and me and they herded us to the locker rooms that they were using. People were slapping Austin on the back. I watched moodily, sitting on a bench with my bag next to me. They had brought it. Jerks.

I frantically searched for the shot. My hands were already trembling and the lights and the loud voices were beginning to sting. I grasped something in the bag and felt its point slid into the palm of my hand.

So that was the shot.

Now my hands are trembling, my knee is screwed up, my hand is bleeding, and I had a headache the size of Antarctica. The shot tumbled out of my hand and back into the bag. Wait a second … I didn't have five shots last time … and the shots aren't supposed to be fuzzy, are they?

A hand is on my arm. Pulling me. Taking my hand in theirs and carrying my bag as I stagger through the crowd and into an empty locker room where I collapse on a bench. A sharp point slides into me. 

Somebody is wrapping something around my hand. My vision is coming back. The sound doesn't quite hurt as much. And it's her again. Why doesn't she just leave me alone? She's made my life hard enough.

"You okay?" Stephanie asked. I just looked at her. Did I look okay to her? I had just been forced to betray my friends, made my biggest fan hate me, and a stupid headache had topped it all off. No, Stephanie, I'm not okay. I'll never be okay again.

I glanced at my hand. She had wrapped tape around it and a small spot of blood was in the center. I had really stuck myself with the shot? Jesus, I didn't even know that I was suicidal. I had missed my wrist by that much? I needed to work on my aim (Joke! It's a joke, folks!)

"Leave me alone," I muttered and turned away from her and hunching over. I wanted to hit something. 

"Kurt," she said.

"Leave me alone!" I sprang up from the bench and grabbed my bag. My knee buckled and I fell down on the good one, gasping. Shit. I had screwed it up bad. 

"Kurt!" She leapt to my side. She gripped my arm. Angrily I shoved her off and the force sent her crashing to the ground, her head banging against the bench. She cried out and it sliced through my heart. I turned back to her.

"Stephanie?" She didn't answer. Her eyes were closed and her head was lolling on the ground. "Stephanie!" I staggered to my feet. My knee ached as I carefully moved over to where Stephanie lay. I think I hyperextended it (A/N: that's a like a sprain, right? Eddie Guerrero did that to his knee a while back [they claim it's the reason he's not back. Personal problems] and Jericho did it to his elbow the Smackdown before Invasion. He had a elbow pad on it at Invasion, and when he and the others were beating on DDP when he took Debra.)

Her face had gone quickly to a pale white. Awww, man, what had I done? I bent down to her and lifted her so that she was leaning against the bench. I felt around her head. Ouch. She had a bump on her right temple. It was tickling blood that I swiped away quickly.

So she was just knocked out. Now what was I supposed to do? I couldn't carry her, and if I went to Shane, he'd send the whole Alliance on me. Maybe if I went to a trainer…what trainer? The WWF trainer would probably beat me up himself. Excellent. Now what was I supposed to do.

The first thing that I should do was call Hunter. I don't like Hunter, but she was his wife and he should know about her. But then I would have to tell him why she was alone with me in the locker room in the first place and he was probably all ready wondering why I had joined the Alliance. You can figure out the rest. 

Anyways, I fumbled in my bag. For what? I was trying to figure out the answer to that question myself. Did I have whiteout? Maybe I would sniff her awake?

And then I heard a groan from behind me. Stephanie was blinking and groaning. I rushed to her side. "Stephanie?" I yanked open center jacket and sweat pants on. I needed to get out of her as soon as I was sure she was okay. And where are you going to go? A little voice in the back of my head asked. I ignored it. 

"Kurt?' Stephanie muttered. Her voice was etched with pain. She raised a hand to her temple but I shoved it away. Carefully I wiped it away with my shirt. She hissed. "Kurt, what happened?" She groaned again and snapped her eyes open. "My head hurts."

"Yeah, yeah, you got a bump," I said softly. "Don't talk. You feel dizzy? Nauseated? What hurts?"

"Just my head," she moaned. She waved her hands until she found my shoulder. "Kurt, hold me. Please."

Why did she have to look at me with those big blue eyes and use that pleading voice? I took her in my arms and held her. She refused to let me go as she gripped my forearms. "I'm sorry," I whispered in her ear. She gripped me harder.

"I'm sorry!" she said suddenly. She flung her arms around my neck and hugged me so hard I thought I was going to pass out. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to do this to you! It was all Shane and Paul's idea! I never wanted to hurt you! Shane hated you after KOR and he wanted to get back to you! He talked Paul into it and I had to go along! I wanted to get Jericho! But they wanted you, Kurt! I'm so sorry! I never ever wanted to hurt you!" 

Her tears are soaking my jacket but I could care less. My heart is breaking. None of this is her fault. None of it. She was just a pawn in the game. I've never hated Shane more than I hated him now. And a whole new hatred was born for Paul Heyman. 

"Do-you-forgive me?" she hicupped. 

"Yes," I whispered. "Yes."

Her grip loosened and she turned her head to look at me in the eye. I know what she's going to do and I know that I'm neither going to pull away or fight back. Let her do what she wants to do. 

And she's kissing me. And I'm kissing back.

I still needed a place to stay. I've had Stephanie checked up by the Alliance trainer. The trainer fastened an Ace bandage to her forehead and she was off and on her way. I waited for her outside the room. Almost everybody had gone. Only Shane and Paul and Stephanie and a few other wrestlers were there. At least to my knowledge.

When she came out I jumped up. I had changed back into my shirt and sweat pants. I still had the jacket on. "You okay?" She nodded slightly. "Good." I pointed to a locker room. "Shane's in there. I'll see you tomorrow." 

She caught my arm. "You have a place to stay?" 

"Well, my stuff is still at the Doubletree. Guess I'll have to sneak in there." I wasn't looking forward to going back to the hotel. I was going to wait has long as possible to sneak in and grab my suite case and check into another hotel, since we were going to be at the Gund Arena until Friday. 

"The Alliance is checked in the Holiday Inn. We can get you a room." I stared at her. I shrugged. It would be a lot easier. "We can go in the limo." 

I had hyperextended my leg and now had knee brace on over it. I limped through the hall and into the limo.

Nice. The room was nice. It had a nice bathroom and a king-size bed. And it had a couch with cable TV and a hot tub. Beautiful! I threw my stuff in a corner and stared in awe. It was nice! First thing on my list : take a shower! 

"Nice?" Stephanie asked. "It's a nice suite, isn't it?" My suitcase was in a corner of the room. She had sent over a man to retrieve it for me. I could only hope that no one had followed him here to get at me. I nodded at her question, still staring in awe.

"See you in the morning," she said quickly. She crossed the room and kissed me on forehead. I sighed as she left to her room just across from mine.

What was I getting myself into?

I heard a whining sound through the darkness. A small beam of light filled the peeked through. I hadn't been asleep to begin with. My knee was tearing in pain. "Who is it?" I called sleepily as the door closed and I was in darkness once again.

"Me," Stephanie answered as her figure moved closer to the bed. "I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, I just couldn't sleep." She. Was. In. My. Bed. Room. In. The. Middle. Of. The. Night. Oh. My. GOD! She sat on the edge of my bed.

My heart began to race. I could tell she was moving closer. What was I supposed to do? As far as she was concerned, she was my mistress. The man she loved instead of the man she was married to. As far as I was concerned, I didn't know what to feel or think.

"Steph? What are you doing?" I'm sure my voice was high. It. Was. The. Middle. Of. The. Freaking. NIGHT! She moved under the covers. NO! NO! I began to sink into my gray void. 

"What you've wanted to do since you began to like me." She kissed me deeply.

I don't remember what happened after that.

I was in a gray void where nothing mattered.

Whatever I did, I don't know.

I was in a gray void.

I was invincible. 

****

CHAPTER SEVEN

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Raw Is War

The Gund Arena

Cleveland, Ohio

July 23, 2001

I am happy. I am whistling as I trot down the all too filmier halls of the Gund Arena. I happily let myself into the locker room that was my own. So far I had seen no one from the WWF. That only added to my happiness. Man, I felt good! Not even my leg was bothering me now. Hee haw!

I tossed my bag into a locker. I felt awesome! I just sat on the bench in there for a little while, just looking around, feeling as happy as happy can get. Isn't the Alliance so great? I mean, it has superstars from the ECW and the WCW, and that together tops the WWF. And I'm a part of it! I feel so blessed! 

"Kurt?" Hey, it's Edge's voice! Edge is my friends… or was he? Is he still my friend? Who cares? "Kurt, we're coming in." The door banged open and Edge and Christian walked in. They glared at me as they shut the door and walked in front of me.

"Explain," Edge barked.

"Hi, guys!" I said instead. "What's up?" Adam looked Jay with a doubtful look in his eyes. "What? What's the matter? C'mon! Let's have fun! I'm bored and I want to do something!"

"Not until you explain," Jay hissed. 

I cocked my head, smiling crazily, giggling. "Explain what? Why you look like a doofus?" I laughed and laughed. Jay opened his mouth before he shut it quickly. 

"Explain why you went to Alliance."

I paused. Why did they want to talk about that? Why couldn't we just go out and have fun? "Because I wanted to!" I cried. "What's wrong with that?"

Then Jay laughed. "Oh, come on, now, you know you're just doing it to throw the Alliance off! You and Austin are like so smart! Man, you can sure act! "

I smiled at him. "No, I wasn't acting! You're so funny! Why would I do that? That's dumb, isn't it?"

Adam and Jay were looking me as though they had seen a ghost. And I am still happy. I had skillfully avoided telling them the truth, and they believed it, and I was still happy. I should have felt sad or even mad. But I was just happy. Just happy.

"Kurt, you're lying. You have to be. And tonight you're coming back to the WWF, right?" Adam's voice is desperate. My heart stirred a bit. So what? The hell with that. I was happy and that was all that mattered!

"No, I'm not! I'm happy with the Alliance! They can offer me so much!" I smiled loopy. "You guys should join."

"Over my dead body," Jay hissed as he stalked to the door, Adam on his heels. "And you can go to hell." He slammed the door.

"See you there!" I called. Typical Adam and Jay for you. They always over react. It's not as if I've done a bad thing. I'm protecting them, aren't I? Shouldn't they be grateful? So what if they didn't know? They could at least try to show a little compassion. Maybe if I gave them a gift…naw, that was stupid.

I fetched my bag. Stephanie wanted me to call her. She was still at the hotel. I don't remember why. I unzipped the bag. Wait…what happened to all my shots? I dumped the bag contents out. Seven of the shots are already used. I had at least ten yesterday night. Strange. Oh, well, I had probably used them earlier in the morning. I would go see a doctor later for more. 

Stephanie felt better than she had in years. She was still in Kurt's room. She liked this room, because of the size, because of the tub, but mainly because it was Kurt's room. He had been in here. He had slept in here. Slept with her in here, is more like it, Stephanie thought to herself.

Her cell phone played Bach's Sleeper's Wake suddenly. Her brow wrinkled. Who would have guessed she loved classical music? She was going to change the ringer in a little while. Maybe to Bach's Seventh Symphony or Mozart or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or something. She loved Sleeper's Wake, but it was too loud for her sometimes. 

"Hello?" she answered, as she marked her page. 

"Hi?"

"Kurt! Hi! How are you feeling?"

"Never been better! Honestly, I never have been. I feel great. What are you doing? Where are you?"

"In your room," Stephanie said with a smile resting on her face. Just thinking about last night made her want him all over again. "Thinking."

"About what?"

"Last night."

Silence on the other end. She hesitated, then went on. "Anyways, what's happening?"

"Uh… nothing. Do you know what happened to the rest of my shots? I've misplaced like seven of them and I know I had least ten after I took a shower. And I took one in the morning."

She scanned the room. "No, but I can look."

"You're great."

"Yeah, I know I am. Listen, I'll be coming down the arena around five."

"That's seven hours."

"I know. I miss you, too."

"Hehe."

"Haha."

"See you. Your brother wants to talk to me."

"Don't kill him. I happen to like him." She didn't hear the edginess in his voice she usually heard he talked about Shane. Maybe he and Shane had finally decided to put the past behind them. She tried not to get her hopes up, but it was hard. 

"I'm not much in a killing mood."

"I love you."

He hung up, which kind of bothered her. She decided to let it past, even though it was hard. They had gotten together last night. Maybe "I love you" was too strong for the moment. She made a mental note not to say that until he said it first.

Her book forgotten, she leapt off the bed and began to hunt around the room. She may as well try to find Kurt's shots. The book could wait. Kurt may need his shots later she didn't know if he could get them from another doctor than the one he had originally gotten them from. 

After a search of the main room, she came up with nothing. She sighed as she latched the closet shut. That left the bathroom. She passed the tub and entered the bathroom. She checked in the shower stall, the window cabinet and under the sink. She craned her neck to see around the toilet. Nothing. Her eyes caught sight of the trash can.

Stephanie jerked her head to get a good look at the trash. She picked it up and set it on the sink. Her hand trembled and she took them out and laid them side by side on the sink rail. The can fell to the floor with a clatter.

Side by side on the sink rail were seven shots. 

All of them were empty.

I felt sick to my stomach as Shane stood in front of me. I felt weak and angry. This guy had no right to be my locker room! He had no right to talk to me! He had been the one to make me betray my best friends and the company that I love. He had right, no goddamn right, to talk to me as if he were my best friend!

But what could I do about it?

"Great plan?" Shane finished up. I glared at him. He glared back. "I said, great plan?" he asked again. 

"Yes," I said, my voice tight with anger. "Yes. Now will get the hell out of my locker room? I don't want to talk to you. I get the plan, Shane. Go tell Paul I'll do it. "

Shane smiled evilly. "I knew that you would make the right choice, Kurt. You always do in end." Then he dropped so that his head was even with mine. "But don't you forget something, Angle. I don't appreciate this back talking that you're giving me. I don't appreciate it at all. I hate it, in fact. And things are not good when I hate. People get hurt when I hate. _Certain, people, get hurt, when, I hate. _So you just remember that."

He stood up. "And don't think I don't know that Stephanie went into your room last night, because I know. I know. Don't let it happen again." I had to bite my tongue to keep from yelling at him. "Bye." He strolled from the room.

As soon as the door closed I leapt up and heaved my gym bag at the door. That bastard! That damn bitch! I don't care what Stephanie had to say about it. Shane was going down. I was going to get back at Shane if it was the last thing I did!

My phone beeped. I snatched it up. "Hello?" I growled.

"Kurt, I need to talk to you," came Stephanie's urgent voice. 

"What's wrong?" I didn't miss the fear in her voice. "Steph, what is it?"

"I need to talk to you in person."

"I just talked to you an hour ago, what-"

"I just need to! Do you know where The Skyway Café is?"

"Yeah." The Skyway Café was a café about fifteen minutes from The Gund Arena. It was tiny and very expensive and really nice. They had dinners by candlelight and waiters and everything. I guess because the food there is elegant. 

"Meet me there in half an hour." She hung up before I could say a word.

Before I left I injected myself with two shots.

It cost me twenty- one dollar for the taxi ride over to the stupid café. And it was only a fifteen minute drive! I hoped Stephanie had a good reason for wanting to see me. My mood was starting to lighten up. I didn't feel sick. I felt free. 

I went merrily into the café. Hardly anyone was there. Good. Stephanie was sitting down on a leather sofa when I came in. In her hands was a thick white plastic bag. She looked lovely in a leather brown skirt and black turtleneck. More happiness bubbled inside of me just looking at her. She's so beautiful.

She raised to meet me. Smiling tightly, she came to me and hugged me…hard. "What's the matter?" I asked, hugging her back. She didn't answer, just kissed me, and pulled away. 

Before either of us could say anything else, a male waiter bustled up to us. He stopped short when he saw Stephanie. His green eyes stared at her. "Table for two," she said quickly. 

"Yes, ma'am," he stumbled. He looked at me and the smile faded. I don't like you, either, man. I just grinned at him. Grumbling under his breath, he led us to a table in a small corner of the room. 

"What-?" I began.

"Drinks?" the waiter interrupted. I checked his nametag: Derrick. Derrick, sir, well…just leave us alone! I almost wanted to laugh at him. He was staring at Stephanie like she was the first female he had seen in the last decade. 

"Latte," Stephanie ordered. "Vanilla." Derrick smiled at her warmly. "Will that be all, Miss…Miss…"

"Hemsley," Stephanie finished. "Mrs. Hemsley." Derrick glared at me. Stephanie gave me a weak wink. 

"I'm Hunter Hemsley," I said to the fifty-year-old Derrick. "Nice to meet you, Derrick." Derrick glowered at me. Stephanie had a hand pressed firmly to her mouth to keep from laughing. I grinned at Derrick. Finally, things were starting to lighten up. Me, playing Hunter. That was a riot. 

"And you?" Derrick said through tightly pressed lips. 

"Coffee, decaf." I smiled at him brightly before he left, muttering and hanging his head low. Stephanie laughed while I just sat there and smiled and smiled and smiled. Being Hunter sure was a lot of work. I snickered. "We got him good, huh?"

"You think he'll recognize us?"

"Not unless he has grandkids who watch wrestling."

"Or he watched the 1996 Olympics."

"That too. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Nothing, Kurt. I just wanted to talk to you. About anything."

"Okay. Why did the chicken cross the road?" I felt so happy! She just wanted to see me! I felt great! She didn't want anything from me! Just to see me! Now she was looking at me as though I was an idiot.

"Why?" she asked, her voice small and weak.

"To get to the other side!" I spat. She laughed a tiny laugh. My mind soared. She liked it! "I'm happy. How about you?"

"Yeah, me too." She reached her hand across the table. I took it with my own. She smiled at me. I smiled at her. She's so pretty! I rubbed her fingers with mine. Her eyes were sad. Why? My happiness died a little. What was wrong? "Are you okay?" I demanded.

"Yeah," she responded, not meeting my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her hand felt limp in mine. 

The table shook as my coffee and her latte were slammed onto the table by Derrick. He glanced at me. "Mrs. Hemsley? Would you like anything else?" She shook her head. "And you?" I shook my head as well. He glared at me once more before he left to seat a new couple. The lady had flaming red hair and the man had black hair. I stared at them until they were seated. Who did they remind me of?

"Stephanie, what's the matter?" I craned my neck so that I was looking up at her as she looked at the candle in the center of the table. Her angry eyes finally met mine and there was no mistaking the pain and heartbreak in them.

"What's the matter?" she whispered. "What's the matter?" She ripped her hand from mine. Her eyes flamed. "What's the matter?" Her voice was high. She reached under the table and grabbed something. The white bag. She slammed it on the table and tore it open.

"You found my shots? Why are they all gone?"

"Kurt!" She took my head in both of her hands. "Kurt, you tell me? Where are they? Where the hell are they?"

"How am I supposed to know? I-"

"Where are the other ones?" She grabbed my gym bag and unzipped it. She searched through it. She produced two empty ones. "You gave yourself two? My God, Kurt, you weren't even at the arena for an three hours!"

"I-"

"Kurt, you know what you did? You overdosed!"

I'm sure the color drained from my face. I'm positive the color drained from my face. How dare she accuse of that? "Stephanie, what are you talking about? Of course I didn't OD! That's…like being suicidal! And on purpose? Yeah right!"

She gripped my forearm and brought it up to her face. "Ten marks! Ten fresh marks! Kurt, you injected yourself ten times! What's in this? What kind of medicine? And why? Why did you do it?"

"Stephanie, stop it! I didn't! I don't know where you got that idea from, but I didn't! I swear!" Or at least I couldn't remember doing that.

"Then how do you explain it?"

"I can't!"

Stephanie leapt to her feet. She tossed twenty dollars on the table. "That's for the drinks! I'll see you later!" She stomped out before I could stop her. 

"Stephanie!" I cried. But she was gone. I groaned. I didn't bother leaving a tip. That guy wasn't that good. I marched over to the counter, paid to Derrick, and started on my way to the door. I was pasting a booth when a arm snaked out and grabbed my forearm.

"What?" I bristled, looking. I almost died.

"HI, Kurt," Matt Hardy said. Lita sat across from him. I jumped back, pulling my arm free. Matt had a frown resting on his face. I wanted to sock him. Lita just looked at me with a fire in her eyes. 

"What do you want?" I demanded. My cell began to ring, but I turned it off. Probably Shane. 

"Why-?" Lita began before Matt cut her off.

"How are you?" Matt asked in too nice voice.

"What are you talking about?" I asked wearily. The small bubble of happiness that had been floating inside of me for the last hour had just popped when Stephanie had left. I felt crabby, and worst of all, like I had a hangover. Great. My mind felt ready to pop, and my limbs wanted sleep. 

"How are you?" Matt asked again. I was in no mood to deal with this guy.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Betray anybody else lately?" Was this dude for real?

"Oh, yeah," I said, nodding, even though it hurt. " Sure. My dog. I got a cat instead." I hate animals. 

Lita exploded. "Why the hell did you do it? Vince gave you everything that you have! And you betrayed him! And you betrayed us. How could you? You had everything here! You could have been champ! Kurt-"

"Amy," Matt said. Lita groaned. She tossed her menu at me. I caught it. Matt glared at me. "You're a bastard. A (beep) a (beep) and a (beep!)"

"I know," I said. I looked out the window into the bright daylight. My mind wanted to collapse. I wanted to sleep. "I know." With that, I walked out of the café.

And right into hell.

Stephanie says she didn't have anything to do with it. She said it was Shane and Paul. I'm still not sure if I believe her or not. 

I've all ready been to the doctor. I've gotten more shots, enough for three weeks, and they tended my knee and to my arms and to my chest and to my head. Dr. Juan Sanchez told me I had brought the concussion to a mild concussion from its previous "just a bit" concussion that Jared Ralo told me I had. He taped my ribs, saying they were slightly bruised. He wrapped bandages around my right arm. It was bleeding. I had cuts and gashes all along my body. He suggested bed rest. Yeah, sure.

I got back to the arena at five. Raw started at eight. I had three hours, and I still didn't even know if I was going to be in a match. Stephanie didn't want me in a match, but I suspected Jericho, Kane or The Undertaker may want a match. 

Shane and Paul want me to do something for them. Shane all ready discussed it with me. I don't want to. But tonight, I will have to. 

My body is singing with pain as I lay down on the cot that has been brought in for me. I feel weak. I want sleep. 

As I sink into my gray void, I asked myself a question.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I stood in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Stephanie, Paul, and Shane. I don't know if the crowd is happy or not. I don't know if they are cheering. I refused to stand anywhere near any of them. The attack they Austin and the rest of the Alliance had given me as I had stepped from the café was still fresh in my mind. Did they realize how lucky they were that a deserted alley had been right on the side of the café?

"Why?" Stone Cold has the mike. I know what's he going to say, what I have to say. This is Shane and Paul's plan. This is my beating. I have to act. I have too.Adam and Jay are in the back.

"All of you, are asking, Why, Stone Cold, why? How could you?" Austin's voice is loud, taunting. He throwing the title around like its nothing. I'm leaning against a turnbuckle. Stephanie is staying away from me. Another part of the plan. "Why, Stone Cold, why?" He stopped pacing, stopped moving, and looked at the ground for a moment. Then, with a sadistic look in his eyes, he looked towards the sky. "Well, I'll tell you why." 

He began to pace again. Could he be anymore annoying? I watched him pace, a curtain over my eyes, displaying no emotion. And even that was part of the plan. Shane wanted me to be an emotionless, cold, SOB. Fine with me.

"Why did I defect to the Alliance? Easy question. Vince, do you remember when a hug used to be something special between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon? Do you remember when it was a bond? 

"But no! You ruined it, Vince! Now, you want to go and hug Kurt Angle." He stopped moving, then pointed at me. I fought the urge to laugh. You want to know the real reason I was hugging Vince? To piss Austin off. Simple as that. His lips curved into a sneer. "You want to go and hug Kurt Angle. Kurt? Kurt, come over here." 

My cue. I walked over. Being this close to Austin…I could give him an Angle Slam before he knew what hit him! We stared at each other, his eyes grounding into mine. He slowly raised the microphone to his lips. "I never liked hugging Vince," he said solemnly. "Did you?"

He pressed the microphone to me. "Hell no." And the crowd screamed at me. I looked around, and smiled Austin's vile smile. 

Austin grinned, patted me on the neck. It took all the will power I possessed not to give him a neck breaker right there and then. "So why did we hug you, Vince?" Austin spoke into the mike. "It's all very simple: _setup._ And why the setup, Vince? _The Rock."_

The crowd gasped. The Rock? What about the People's Champ? "The Rock," Austin repeated. JR must be having a heart attack. The thought almost made me want to giggle. I began to pace around the ring. "The People's Champ," Austin sneered. 

"The People's Champion. The Rock. Naw-uh, Vince. I know who you were talking to on the phone, Vince. The Rock. Why are you talking to him, Vince? Why aren't you talking to Stone Cold Steve Austin? What's wrong with talking to me? 

"Why, Vince, why? The Rock came between us, Vince! He came between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon. So I went to Stephanie and Shane! Stephanie and Shane knew what Stone Cold needed. They knew me. They know me. Unlike you, Vince! I jumped to a team that loves Stone Cold Steve Austin, that knows what he needs. 

"And they'll find me the best competition in the world. No more, Vince. No more of this talking behind Austin's back." What did he just say? Yeah, I'm as confused as you are. "And the setup. It was so easy! Get you to trust me. Get you to like me. And then strike. It worked like a charm, didn't it, Vince?" 

And it did. The whole thing Austin just said is true. This guy is paranoid. He's afraid of being second-best. I don't really get it…even though I don't like to be second-best either. I walked around the ring restlessly. "And then-"

"No chance! No chance in hell! No chance, if that's what you got!"

Vince? Hell, no! I jerked my head to the stage. No! Vince wasn't supposed to be out here! He was out here, though, and with Jericho, Kane, The Undertaker, the APA, and The Hardy Boyz. No! Shane shot me a look: _don't screw up. _I began to sweat as Vince stepped out from the shadows. I stared at him. He was staring at Austin. Good. Not at me.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded. Cheers. I should have expected that. I wanted to groan, but I felt the camera on me. Austin was leaning against the rope, facing Vince with a demented look in his eyes. I kept the mask on as I joined him. 

"We-" Austin began.

"No, no," Vince cut him off. "No, no. You're telling me you're jealous? Of what? Stone Cold-"

"Wait, wait, wait, Dad!" Stephanie's voice filled the arena. "Stone Cold Steve Austin is-"

"Shut up!" Vince's voice was loud. He glared at Austin, then at me. "Austin, let me tell you something! I understand why you're mad. I understand that! But you've got to understand something, Austin. There's something very important that you need to understand." Austin looked at me, I looked at Austin. 

"I, me, I never wanted to hug Kurt Angle." And I smiled Austin's smile again. "Kurt, Kurt, he's the one that hugged me! Not the other way around! He's the one, not me! Austin, you have to believe that!" His voice is pleading. I want to run to him and beg him for forgiveness. Even fall to my knees if I had too. 

The mask dropped for a few moments. And suddenly Vince jerked his head to look at my sad, heartbroken eyes. I looked at him, tortured. His eyes flickered. He stared at my eyes for a long moment. Jericho and Kane and The Undertaker all looked at me. Shane came up, elbowed me so that it looked like he was patting my shoulder, and I quickly pulled the curtain back. 

Vince paused. He looked down, then back at me. "Kurt?" His voice is tentative. "Kurt, why did you join the Alliance?" 

Shit. Shane still wasn't quite sure what he wanted me to say. So what was I supposed to say. I halted. Stopped dead. I stared at Vince. I saw the triumph in his eyes. He knew! Vince knew! How could…how possibly…it wasn't possible! He was…he was like psychic! 

"Well, Kurt?" Now Jericho was speaking into the mike. He knew. He knew, too! I scanned all of their faces. Jericho knew. The Undertaker knew. Kane knew. Matt Hardy looked suspicious. The APA just looked pissed. Jeff Hardy was busy smiling at a pretty girl in the audience. Figures. "C'mon, Junior." I looked down. "Hey, Olympic Chump! I'm talking to you!"

And then I grasped at an idea floating in my mind before I had a chance to think about wither or not Shane would agree. "There." I said it in a flat voice. "There." 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jericho growled.

"I'm tired of this crap! I'm tired of being picked on! I'm tired of being last!" I felt so much like a whiner. "You always had to choose someone else first, didn't you, Vince? You didn't think I could be a leader! Now I can! And I'm tired of being made of! Of being booed! Naw-uh! No more, Vince! I was sick of that! Now I'm on a team where I can be a leader! Where I won't be last! Where I won't be picked on! Where I won't be booed." 

And then a loud boo. I threw myself off the ropes and adverted my eyes up to them. This was live TV. No matter what I did, I was on TV, and I had to make it look good. All of us wrestlers are taught like that. If we screw up, we screw up. We have to make up for it. We have to make it look good. 

Jericho rolled his tongue in along his lips and smirked. "Little Kurty-Wurty tired of being picked on? Awww!" He held up his hand. "But I've just one question." But I've just one question? This guy studied journalism for a long while. Shouldn't I have expected this? That evil Jericho grin spread on his face. "How _is _Stephanie in the sack?" 

The crowd roared. I climbed onto the turnbuckle where the second rope met it. Stephanie's mouth was hanging open and Shane was bouncing on the ropes, screaming at Jericho. The WWF superstars were smiling. Jericho chuckled, then handed the mike to Vince.

"You take that back, Jericho!" Stephanie screamed. 

"You show her respect!" Shane yelled. 

I waved my arm at Jericho. Jericho gave me a mock shocked look and pointed at his chest. "Jericho, that is only not totally untrue," I shouted into the mike. "That's going to give me a reason to kick your ass! I want you, in a match, tonight!" 

"Now, wait just one minute, Kurt," Vince said into the mike. He still didn't buy my reason. Like he would. "Let's do something about that. How about this, Kurt, Austin? And by the way, Stephanie, I wouldn't mind knowing the answer to the question myself." 

"Dad!" Stephanie ran into Shane's arms and buried her face into his shoulder. Austin flipped Vince off. Vince smiled and I shouted at Vince. You're lucky I didn't do it into the mike. TNN might have been in trouble for excessive cursing. 

"About the match. Let's add onto it. Kurt Angle and Stone Cold Steve Austin versus…" He paused, listened to the roar of the crowd, smiled, then went on." The Undertaker and Kane."

"Hell yeah!" Austin yelled,

Jericho grabbed the mike back. "Wait, Vince, wait, I-"

Vince grabbed the mike back. "With Chris Jericho as the special guest referee!" 

The house went down. Bulbs flashed. Jericho smiled. I yelled. Austin stalked around the ring. Paul started to scream. The Undertaker, Kane, The Hardys, and the APA hollered. I leapt from the turnbuckle. Anger ran through me. I went to Austin. "Should we?" I asked, looking up at him.

"What do you mean, should we?" I could barely hear him above the roar of the crowd. "We have to!"

"No we don't!" I yelled back. We weren't talking into the mike.

"Yeah we do, boy! Shane would say so!"

"Screw Shane!"

"I'm telling you this, Angle: watch what you say and what you do. Or you want me to break your arm next time?" He poked my right arm and it burned like fire. I had a blue jacket on, so no one could see it. I had my tank top under that. "So we fight, got it!" I nodded slowly. Shane looked at us, and nodded.

"You got a match!"

"No DQ!" I added. Why I added that, I don't know. Maybe in hopes that one of my friends…what friends?

"Fine!" Jericho spat. 

"Fine!" I yelled. 

The mask lifted again. I saw my eyes in the Titantron.

Pain and hurt. 

Pain and hurt.

I walked to my locker room, my leg hurting. I wanted to fall over and sleep. I needed my shot. My arm was burning. Shane, Stephanie, Paul and Austin were heading to their own locker room. Shane wanted to see me in twenty minutes. There was something about the way he looked at me…like pity or something. 

I hobbled to my locker room. As I opened the door, my breath left in a sharp, painful hiss. 

The Undertaker, Kane, Jericho, The Hardy Boyz, and Vince McMahon were standing there. "Hi?" I tried in a small voice. In two quick strides, Mark had my neck. He dragged me forward. I thought I was going to die. He yanked me over in front of Vince, who is taller than me by about half an inch. 

"Hi?" I tried again.

"Shut it, Kurt," Chris hissed at me. I shot him a dirty look. 

"Take off your jacket," Vince ordered. 

"What?"

"Take off your jacket!" He said it with more force. Vince rolled his eyes to Kane, then to me. Kane flexed his arm. Groaning, I slowly slid my jacket off. Matt Hardy ripped the jacket from me and heaved it on the bench.

"Jesus," Jeff breathed. "They fucked you up that bad?" They were looking at my right arm, which had about ten layers of white bandages from my shoulder to about my mid forearm. If you were watching what happened about five minutes ago, you would have seen that I never moved my right arm that much, and that it just kind of hung limp down at my side. Its very hard to move my arm with all those bandages on it. 

"Yeah, they did," I spat before I could stop myself. Shit! I jerked back from them, closing my eyes. Shane was going to kill me! He was going to kill me! My mind slid back to just after I had walked out of the café…the pain Austin and about seven others from the Alliance had given me…

"So it's true?" Vince asked. 

"I don't even know what you're talking about," I bluffed. "Nothing. I hurt my arm training. I fell off the treadmill and my arm got caught on…on the black thing where you walk!" How lame was that? Could I even be anymore lame? Only a ten- year- old would buy that! Come to think of it, not even a ten-year-old would buy that. 

"Oh, yeah right," Chris said in a total unbelieving voice. I glared at him. He looked at me. "I'm sorry about that remark about Stephanie! Honest! I just had too…TV, remember!" Why were they being nice to me? Because they knew it wasn't my fault?

"It's true!"

"Gimme a break!" Matt's voice was loud. "I was at the café when they started to beat you up! I saw you! I saw them! Amy saw you!" He turned his big brown eyes to me. 

"Liar," I sneered. "It wasn't me."

"Take off the tank top," Vince ordered. Snarling, and with trouble, I jerked my top off. With hurt eyes I looked at Vince. He and the others were gasping at my ribs. I had tape up to my mid chest. There was a bit of ugly purple marks above that. 

"Happy? And now will you please get out of my locker room?" Yeah, I was crabby, but they were going to pin me and Adam and Jay would be the victims. "You're from the other company. Shane might fire-"

"He never hired you," Vince countered. "He never got you to sign a contract. And your contract for the WWF is still on for two more years. You're still under my rule." My head felt ready to explode. I needed that shot. I craved that shot. My knee felt ready to collapse. "So I don't want you in that match. But I want to know why you went to them in the first place."

"Leave me alone," I muttered, staring at the ground. "I went to them because I wanted to." 

"No way," Mark grunted. "You wouldn't." I glared at him, then shoved Jeff out of the way and sat down hard on the bench. Vince turned and came to face me. I lowered my gaze to the ground, not wanting to meet his eyes. 

"Then we're not leaving until you tell us why," he said. I turned my tortured eyes to him.

"Why can't you leave me alone?" I whispered in a voice so small I'm not sure they all heard me. I shut my eyes tightly. "Just leave me alone or they'll hurt me more."

"What?" Chris demanded. "Why? What did you do to them?"

"Nothing," I responded. "Nothing at all." Cradling my head in my hands, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was somehow comforting. Groaning, I met each of their eyes. "Leave me alone. Please, leave me alone. You're going to get me in trouble." 

Vince's eyes hardened. "We tried to help," he said as he backed away. "We tried to help. Don't forget it, Kurt? And tonight, in the match, we won't go easy on you. Because we tried to help you and you wouldn't let us. C'mon, guys."

I watched them leave slowly and heard Chris' voice through the door. "We had him! He was going to crack! I can't believe you let him off!" So they did know. 

Sighing, I took out my shots. I read the label carefully. It was morphine. 

I gave myself four.

Shane gave me a few words of wisdom, merrily told me not to screw up, and trotted off, saying he and Stephanie and Shane and Paul would be there. Cheering Austin and I on. Isn't that nice? I feel so loved.

Happily I put all my gear on. I think Shane wanted me to do a promo. Cool. I haven't done a promo for a while. It should be fun. I was removing the tape from my chest just as Paul and Shane burst into the office, their faces white. "Don't!" Paul cried. I froze, giggled, looked at them. 

"What's funny?" Shane demanded. I just looked at him, trying not to laugh. "Never mind," he said, even though he did mind. "Stephanie talked to your doctor. You need the tape." I cocked my head. "So we've…made a deal with someone who has agreed to this and who will be joining us in the future. He's going to spear about five times into a truck. That's why you're going to have the tape on."

"Who?" My insides were jumping wildly. I got to be on TV again! All right! But wouldn't it hurt? My ribs were already hurt. I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind.

"Test."

"_Test?"_

"Yeah. Got a problem?" He raised his eyebrow to me.

"No. None." Test? But I thought Test was all for the WWF. Maybe Test was just tired of them as I had been. "But then don't I need the tape off?" Paul turned red, but he still nodded. "When?" Shane told me in about thirty minutes and gave me a layout of what was going to happen. Okay. Sounded easy enough. 

"Okay?" Shane asked. I nodded eagerly. He cocked an eyebrow. "Since when are you so happy to be part of the Alliance?" He and Paul started for the door. 

"I always have been happy. Its great, it really is." 

Pleasure flushed Shane's face. "You, know, Angle, keep it up and you and me may be friends some day."

Beneath my happiness, anger shot up like a furnace.

"So," Stephanie said as we bent over a green barrel. I had taken the bandages off my arm, since they weren't really needed anymore. I had settled for a cloth tied around my upper arm which I said was a mark from yesterday at Invasion. At least that was only place where I needed it. "You had better win tonight." 

The camera had just been turned on so it only caught that part of the conversation. "Don't worry, we will," I said, feeling lightheaded. I wanted to grin at the TV and wave. But I had feeling Shane might hurt me if I did that. In fact, I think Vince and Shane would die if I did that.

Stephanie's face twisted into a sneer. "And if Jericho tries to interfere, I want you to put him down for what he said tonight! I want you to kill him! I want you to beat his ass! I want you to shut his mouth for good!" As she spoke, she pounded the can with each word. I saw a small dent forming. "He embarrassed me, Kurt! He embarrassed me, and he embarrassed you." She poked me in the chest and I managed to keep the wince off of my face. "What-?"

"Oh, isn't this sweet," came a voice. We both looked up to see the six plus form of Test. Stephanie's face wrinkled up. "Hi, Kurt, hello, Stephanie." I glared at him. Test tilted his head and looked at Stephanie. "Oh, Steph, what you doing? I thought you were with Triple H? Oh, no, wait a second! That was _last _week."

Stephanie's face crumbled. "You-you take-take-that back!" she yelled, tears beginning to form.

"Oh, what did I say? It's true, isn't it?" He turned look at me. "Oh, hi again, Kurt! How was last night? Was it nice? Did you have fun? I bet it was exciting. How you turned over just like that. Oh, and how was your match, too?" The crowd got it and I heard a loud cheer come up. Stephanie started to cry.

I looked to the ground for a second, then threw out my fist and caught Test lightly in the chest. He hissed, staggered, but then laughed and ducked. Before I knew what hit me, Test speared me into one of the moving trailers we use.

My ribs lashed out in pain. I groaned as he held me up by pinning me with his arms, then butted his shoulder into me at least ten more times. When he finally let me go, I sank to the ground in a heap and let pain eat at me.

Test stood above me. He smiled down at me. "Try it again, Angle. Just try it." He turned and looked at Stephanie who was cowering with her hand pressed against her mouth. He flipped his hair at her, then walked away, laughing.

When she was sure Test was gone, she ran to me as I lay on my side curled in a semi-ball. She laid her hand on my arm, then looked in the direction Test had gone. 

The cameraman signaled he had turned the camera off, but Stephanie still didn't withdraw as I gasped in pain. How bad had he hurt me? He had not put all power into it, but it still had hurt and I still felt like I was going to die. "Should I call someone?" the camera guy asked. Stephanie shook her head. The camera guy shrugged and left.

"Great job!" Shane had run up to Stephanie and I. "I couldn't have done it better myself!" Biiigggg compliment. So this was what hell felt like. Shane bent down to me. "Is he okay?" he asked Stephanie. Stephanie shook her head. 

"I'm fine," I gasped. 

"Sure you are," Stephanie snorted. She poked a bit at my ribs and I yelped. Her face was grim. "We should get him to the trainer's office," she informed Shane. Like he needed to know that. Like _I _needed to know that. 

Shane stood, and looked around. Saw no one. I had to get up, had to get up…before anyone from the WWF saw me. What if they tried to hurt Stephanie or Shane? I couldn't let that happen. What if they tried to hurt me? Like I really wanted that to happen. 

Groaning, I heaved myself to my knees. My ribs knocked in pain. Trying not to scream in agony, I held my chest. "Kurt! What are you doing? Don't move!" Stephanie cried. Too late. Grasping the a handle on the truck, I shakily rose to my feet.

Shane came back over. "So you're okay?" He looked bored. Shaking, I bobbled my head. "Sure, whatever you say, boss, sure," I babbled. Shane's face showed pleasure again and he smiled a little. Good. I was doing my job.

I stumbled as I walked a step. Stephanie wrapped an arm around my waist and steadied me. I think I may have fallen if she had not. 

With Shane and Stephanie helping me, I was able to stagger to the trainer's room. 

But after that, no one could help me.

"Do-do-do-do-doooo-do-do-do-doddddooooo. Dum da dum da da dum da da da da da dum!"

That would be me, humming along to my music as I made my way down to the ring, tape wrapped all around my chest. I carefully walked up the steps to the ring and listened to the chant of the crowd, feeling as happy as could be. I was the first one the ring, yea! I got the camera all to myself. 

Smashing glass. Guitar music. I looked up to the ramp where Stone Cold Steve Austin was stalking down, Stephanie, Shane, and Paul Heyman behind him. I hopped around the ring and watched as Austin climbed in the ring and did his entrance thing when he climbed up on the turnbuckle and looks at the crowd.

Eerie music. Austin jumped off the turnbuckle and paced around. Darkness cast a blanket over the arena. I took the time to pull my mask over my eyes. Fire shot up from all four turnbuckles and I jumped a bit. Austin sneered at me as Limp Bizbit's "Rollin'" filled the arena.

The Brothers of Destruction, Kane, the Big Red Machine, and The Undertaker, The American Badass, stood on the ramp, with The Undertaker's wife, Sara.

The crowd roared. For the good guys. Screw the crowd! Screw them all! 

The Undertaker and Kane made their way to the ring. Quickly, Austin and I slid out of the ring as the lights flashed and my ribs soared in pain. The Undertaker raised his arms to the crowd. Sara kept her eyes on us, making sure we weren't going to chase her around. I threw up my arms and pointed at The Undertaker. Cha-yeah. I was going to chase her around when she was The Undertaker's wife. Yeah, that the smart thing to do. 

The countdown began! Five seconds…four seconds…three seconds…two…one! The lights went out for about fifteen seconds. BAM! Chris Jericho appeared on the ramp, doing that thing he does. He wasn't wearing a referee shirt, but he was wearing one of his shirts with "Referee" on the back. He turned to us and pointed to it, laughing.

"Introducing the special guest referee for this no disqualification match, Chris Jericho!" Lillian Garcia called into the mike as she took her seat. Jericho jumped into the ring. The Undertaker and Kane looked at him like he was a nut. Jericho grinned like he was a nut.

Austin and I climbed into our corner. We debated a bit about who should go in first. It appeared that Kane was going to start off for the WWF team. Austin wanted me to go in first. I wanted him to go in first. Stephanie stalked over and leaned towards us. "Austin first!" she spat before she stalked back to Paul and Shane. I smiled at him as Austin went in the ring.

Jericho called for the bell. Doesn't that sound funny? Austin and Kane bounced around each other for a while when suddenly Vince's music rang out and he appeared on the ramp. He smiled at us and pressed a mike to his lips.

"I just want to inform you that I will be accompanying The Undertaker and Kane to the ring. And one other thing: on Smackdown!, Kurt Angle will be going one-on-on with The Undertaker. And if The Undertaker wins, Kurt, you will rejoin the WWF! And if Kane wins the match that he has against Austin, then Austin, you will be joining the WWF also! Thank you!" He tossed the mike and headed down the ring.

What? Shane and Stephanie ran to their father as he joined Sara. They shouted at each other. Austin ran to the ropes and started yelling at Vince as well. I screamed at Vince inside my head. How dare he do that! He had no power over me! He was going to get Adam and Jay in trouble!

Kane sized the moment and grabbed Austin tights and got him in a pin. Jericho slapped the ground. Austin kicked out at two. He leaped away and jumped to his feet. Kane got up and went after him. He grabbed Austin by the neck. Chokeslam! Austin reversed it and Irish Whipped Kane into the ropes. Kane bounced back and Austin hit him with a clothesline. 

Austin turned him around and grabbed his left arm. He brought Kane to his feet and twisted his arm about hard. Kane gasped in pain. Austin reared back and chopped his arm down on the arm. Kane hit the ground. Austin ran over and tagged me in. 

Great. I jumped in and heard Stephanie scream "WHAT?!" at Austin. I started to advance toward Kane when Jericho got in my way. He put his arm on my chest and forced me back. 

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded. "He's down!" he yelled back. He just didn't want me to get the ring. As I tried to get past him, he shoved me back. I let my anger take me and shoved him out of the way as Kane hit me with a boot to the face.

Jericho sneered at me as Kane took my head in his hands and tossed me in the turnbuckle. He ran at me and speared my chest into the post. I thought I was going to die right there and then, I really did. He speared me at least two more times and when he left me I collapsed to the ground in a heap.

I heard a slap and realized that Kane had tagged The Undertaker in. Yippee for me. I tried to crawl away, but Undertaker was on me. He picked me up and held me so that my legs were over his shoulders and my head was hanging down by his knees. I tried to get away, but he ran with me and jammed me into the turnbuckle. I flipped over so that I was pinned with my leg over the top of the turnbuckle and my head was by the ground. (A/N: they get Eddie Guerrero like this a lot.)

The Undertaker looked at me and I saw the pity in his eyes for a second before he tucked it away. Taker went to the other turnbuckle, and he ran at me and delivered a baseball slid to my ribs. It was enough to make me scream out. I wrenched myself free of the turnbuckle and fell to the ground, banging my head on the post. My head started to throb.

The Undertaker walked around a little for half a minute before he came back to me and heaved me to my feet. He whipped me into another turnbuckle face first. I sprang back and Undertaker trapped me in his arms. My ribs cried out as I was treated to a sidewalk slam. He covered me.

"1!" the crowd counted. "2!" 

Austin broke up the count by kicking The Undertaker and rolling him away. Jericho grabbed Austin by the shoulders and threw him back in his corner. He ducked as Austin tried to swing at him. Jericho clotheslined him out of the ring and the crowd roared its approval. 

Kane tagged in. He and Undertaker began to take it to my ribs. Jericho didn't stop them. I tried to fight back, but Kane held my arms back and jerked me to my feet. He pinned me and allowed The Undertaker to use me as his personal punching bag. When Kane finally let me go, I fell and tried to curl in a ball, but it hurt too much.

Kane covered me. I remembered Shane's words as I heard Jericho's hand slap the ground. "…better win…or else…" I kicked out. Shane's evil voice right before I came out to the ring was enough of a warning.

I saw The Undertaker and Kane look at each other like they had just seen a ghost. The Undertaker sighed. He grabbed my arm and took me to a turnbuckle. He climbed the top rope. "Old School!" he screamed out to the crowd. He walked a bit on the ropes as I staggered along with him. He jumped down and brought all his force on my arm. I hit the ground a second later.

Suddenly Austin was in the ring. He held a chair firmly in his grasp. Jericho was on him. He grabbed the chair from Austin and held it high above his head as Austin tried to reach for it. Kane rushed past Jericho and grabbed Austin by the neck. The Undertaker grabbed me. 

DOUBLE CHOKESLAM! 

Kane covered Austin. The Undertaker covered me. Jericho did a double count…rather quickly.

"And the winners of this match! The Undertaker and Kane!"

I wanted to die. Honestly, I wanted someone to hit my head with an ax and put me out of my misery. I would forever be thankful to that person. My ribs felt as if they were cut in pieces and thrown about. A jackhammer was grinding into my brain. My legs felt rubbery and The Undertaker and Kane were swimming crazily in front of my eyes.

I fought the urge to throw up and rolled out of the ring and collided into the floor. I let out a sound like a wounded animal and felt Stephanie and Shane come over. I saw Stone Cold grab another chair. He was going to fight them all? I wasn't helping. I didn't care what Shane did. I wasn't helping.

"Are you okay?" Shane wondered.

"I need to go!" I cried. I wanted to get out of the ring. Or I was going to throw up. "I need to go!" I tried to get to my feet but I swayed and toppled back to the ring. I saw out of the corner of my eye Kane and The Undertaker slide out of the ring and Taker collect Sara. Jericho and Vince followed them. Each of them shot me a look. 

"Do something!" Shane hissed in my ear. "Don't let them get away." Austin was by me. He poked my ribs. "Do it," he ordered before running and nailing Kane in the head with the chair. I took a step forward and collapsed back onto the ground. I watched Austin clobber Jericho with a chair and then set to work on Vince. 

That was all I saw before I passed out.

Alright, thank you. Hope you like it and again, sorry about the length. Review!

~Blazer~


	5. Chapter 8

Sorry it took so long to update. I just haven't any inspiration. I just hope this lives up to the wait I put you through. Enjoy!

~Blazer~

CHAPTER ONE

**__**

Tuesday

Angels of Hope and Mercy Hospital

July 24, 2001

They call it 'Angels of Hope and Mercy Hospital.' I've got one question: how did they come up with that sappy name? 

I rewound the tape for about the one-millionth time (don't I sound like a three-year-old?). Jeez, I looked like hell. I really did. Why JR didn't shoot me on sight for looking like a slob, I don't know. _I _wanted to shoot myself. 

I watched the tape from my hospital. I don't have a roomie, thank God. Shane and Stephanie wanted me to be by myself. Shane was angry at me for not helping Austin attack the WWF. I watch the tape.

I watched as I sagged against the ring for a couple of moments before I collapsed to the ground. I stared at myself on the ground in horror. When we wrestlers faint, and sometimes we do for dramatic purposes, we land on the ground perfectly straight. I didn't land like that. I landed on my knees and then began to fall. It was a slow fall. I landed on my stomach, my left arm under me and sticking out on the other side of my hip. My other arm was spread out twisted backwards towards the ring. One leg was under the ring and the other was curled around the ring post.

Yeah, I looked like hell, and I looked at the faces of the fans. They knew it wasn't supposed to happen.

Stephanie bent down to me. You know when Triple H hurt his leg and Stephanie was on the ground next to him? That's how it looked. Only tears were streaming down her face and she jumped to her feet really quick. 

About a second later, paramedics ran down. Vince, Taker, Kane, Jericho and Austin had all stormed to the backstage area a couple of minutes earlier. I was dead weight. The paramedics tried to lift me. No go. They strained. JR's voice was calmly announcing every thing. That guy…he said I looked hell? I'm gonna kill JR and no one had better stop me!

Shane was calling for more help…from who? I was surprised to see Rob Van Damn, Hurricane Helms, and Lance Storm run down the ramp still in their ring attire. Were they going to help me? They did. RVD, Helms, and Storm helped the paramedics lift me onto the gurney. Shane and Paul grabbed Stephanie's arms and hustled her to the backstage area. Great.

And I watched, as the paramedics wheeled me into the backstage area.

I finally shut off the TV. I don't think I could stand watching that tape any longer. I thought about the match…

Vince wanted me to fight with the Undertaker on Thursday. And if I lost? Then I would be forced back into the WWF. Vince had the power to do that. The contract Shane had was a fake, and if Vince got a hold of it, then he would know that it was a fake. It was that simple. Legally, Vince still had the power over me to make me do what he wanted. I honestly didn't understand. My contract runs until September of 2003. I had signed it! What if Vince sued me? He wouldn't do that, said a tiny voice in my head.

But it still was as confusing as hell. Did I have any rights? Did I have any say? Groaning, I put my head into the pillow.

The room was paste white. White is one of my least favorite colors. The bed was a typical hospital bed, with rails and blue sheets and two white pillows. The door was closed and I was shut off from the outside world. No windows. Were they trying to drive me insane? They were kind of doing that. There was a stand next to the bed, with a phone and a few papers. I was bored silly as I stared at the blank TV hanging in the corner.

I toyed with the buttons for a while. The bed went up, the bed went down. I was in my regular clothes, since I had refused a hospital gown. I looked at the bathroom door, wondering if I needed to throw up. Nausea was in my stomach. 

The door opened. Cool. I had a visitor. Oh, yeah, right, like I'm that lucky. It was the damn doctor, whose nametag read ' Dr. Ewan Willis'. He looked at me through dark, deep brown eyes. His hair was shaggy black, and he looked younger than me. He smiled at me. "Hello, Mr. Angle," he said politely. "I'm Doctor Willis, but if you want, you can call me Ewan." He pulled a chair up next to my bed. "I understand that you are a professional wrestler." 

"Yeah. I got hurt. How bad? I need to be out of here before Thursday." I looked at him axinously. I had to be out of here by then. If the doctor said I couldn't, I was running away. I couldn't let Adam and Jay suffer for the injuries I had gotten. Because I know Shane well enough to know that if I didn't show on Thursday and lost because of a forfit, he'd send all of the Alliance on my friends.

I hate life.

The doctor ( Ewan, I guess ) gave me a sad smile that made his whole face seemed ready to cry. "I really am sorry, Mr. Angle, but I can't allow you to leave here. You have suffered many injuries. A cracked rib, a very large concussion, and more bruises than I can count. I'm sorry, but this is the doctor's order. You can't be allowed to wrestle. You're going to be out for at least a month. That cracked rib is going to take a while to heal."

__

No. I gasped. _No._ I felt tears well in my eyes. I was dead. I was so dead. No, excuse me, _Adam and Jay_ were dead. Oh, God, I had to get out of here.

"I'm sorry," Ewan said. "But this is best." He took a deep breath. "I also took a blood sample, and checked you history. You are taking painkillers in the form of a shot, are you not?"

"Yes," I said, my voice tight. The converstation with Stephanie floated in my mind. She had accused me of overdosing on my meds. But I couldn't remember anything of that sort. I knew that I had run out of shots and had gotten a refill, but didn't that just mean that the doctor had not given me enough? 

"I'm going to ask you this flat out: did or did you not take more than the presribed number?" 

I sucked in my breath. "Oh course not! That's stupid! That is _so stupid!_"

Ewan sighed. "Then would you mind if I took a blood drug sample and checked the morphine level?"

I felt my blood turn to ice. If I had overdosed… wouldn't I be dead? The last time I had taken a shot was yesterday. If by some curse I had done the mistake of taking more than the presibed dose of shots, than it should be recycled in my blood, now, shouldn't it? But that didn't exactly matter because I had taken my shots when I was supposed to. So it didn't matter.

"Of course," I said coldly. "I don't want you to think that I'm a junkie. "

Ewan looked at me with a skeptical look. "Okay. Bu first there is someone that would like to see you."

The door opened, and Vince walked in.

~*~*~*~

Ewan saw the fear in my eyes. "Do you want to see him?" he said quickly. "Or do you want him to wait and let me take the dru-"

"No!" I cried. I locked eyes with Vince. I think he saw the fear there, and he nodded. "Shane isn't around. I know. He got called to a meeting with TNN. They said his guys cussed too much." He smiled a little, but still I sat rigid. I nodded at Ewan. 

"I'm going to get the drug-"

"Okay! Do what you're gonna do and leave, please!" Ewan looked at Vince and realization dawned on his face. "Oh, sure, Kurt, whatever you say. I'll be back in a while. " He tipped his head to Vince and quickly left. Vince sat in the chair, and I looked at the far wall. "What do you want, Vince.?" I mumbled.

"You tell me," Vince said, leaning back and draping his arm over the back of the chair. "Why else would you be here?"

"I'm not going back to the WWF. You know that I won't."

"Or can't." Vince gave me a critical eye. I snorted at that. Vince had always been able to read me so well. I coughed. "You're going to get me in trouble," I warned.

"If you want me to leave, than why should I care?' Vince sighed.

"Do you hate me!" I burst out, looking at him. I leapt off the bed, despite the pain that shot through my ribs. I began to pace. He watched me, not moving. "Vince, listen to me! I left and I can't change that! But you got payback on Raw. " I gestured to my bandaged arm and to my ribs. "You're going to get payback on Smackdown!. And I'm not going to lose, either. I can't. "

Vince looked at me calmly. "Why not?"

I threw up my arms. "I don't know why I let you in here anyways!" I looked around for my bag. I had the shots in there. I needed the shots. Then I could fall asleep and drift in a world where it was just my gray cloud and I. But where was my bag?

"You let me in because you hate Shane and the Alliance as much as I do." 

I shook my head and forced a smile. "Oh, please. Shane is…a …much….better…boss than…you …are!" I coughed the words out and felt my heart break. _Don't believe it, Vince, don't believe it! _But I saw the hurt flash in his eyes and felt rage seer through me at the fact that I could not take back the words. But I raised my chin and looked at him with triumph in my eyes. 

He recovered quickly, and his eyes turned hard. I smiled at him cockily. He pursed his lips. "I don't want to do this, Kurt," Vince said. He strecthed out his arms and reached into the pocket of his dress coat. And he pulled out a cellphone. I

I froze. "What are you doing?" I gasped. 

He dialed, then looked at me, rolling his eyes. "Shane?"

"No, Vince!" I screamed. I dove and knocked the phone from his hand, landing on the floor. 

"Kurt? Kurt, I swear, it you're there, it's not just going to be Adam and Jay." I lay on the floor, panting, my ribs crying out. Vince looked at me, holding out his hand. :"Kurt, I know it's you. So answer. Or Adam and Jay and the Hardys are in the hospital with you tonight." 

"Shane." I stood slowly, waving away Vince's hand. I panted. "Hi, Shane, what-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! " 

Vince looked at me in puzzlement. "Nothing, Shane!" I walked away from Vince, turning my back to him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You bastard. You know the consequences! You know THE POWER THAT I HAVE!" 

I winced. "Shane, you're overreacting, he's just here because-"

"I don't care what he's there for! I TOLD YOU NOT TO SPEAK TO HIM!"

"Shane-"

"Stephanie! Go tell Booker T and everyone you can find to get to the hotel where the WWF is staying. Find me Adam Copeland and Jay Reso. And the Hardys."

"No, Shane! Shane, no! "

"You made your choice, Angle!"

"Shane! Shane! Don't, don't, they didn't-"

"It doesn't matter. I lay down the rules. And I told you not to speak with my father!"

"Shane, please don't!" Vince got up at the desperation in my voice. 

"Too late, Angle."

"Shane! In the name of God, Shane, if you do this, I'm going-"

"To what, Angle? Stab me with a needle, _junkie?"_

"God, Shane-"

"This is nothing He can help you with. Good-bye, Kurt." A dial tone.

"Shane? Shane? No, shit, no…" I threw the phone at the wall with a roar. I had to stop this. Adam! Jay! II pounded the wall with my fist.

"Kurt?" Vince looked at me with concern in his eyes. 

"Shit…" I looked at the wall. It would take me ten minutes to get to the hotel where I was staying. Maybe Shane would be there. Yes, yes…I started to the door, but Vince blocked it. "What happened?" he demanded. "I heard Adam and Jay's names." 

"God, Vince…" I looked at him. I had to hurry. Unless…unless…"Vince, get out! Get out, and make sure Adam and Jay and Hardys are safe! Please, Vince! Do it for them!" 

Vince looked baffled. "Now!" I pushed him to the door. "Now!"

Vince's eyes looked haunted. "Okay, okay, fine!" He opened the door. "But I'm not finished-"

"GO!"

He turned and fled.

~*~*~*~

Sorry so short. I'll do better next time.


End file.
